


Catalyst

by A_Concerned_Citizen



Series: Catalyst [1]
Category: Haikyuu!!, Hunger Games Series - All Media Types
Genre: A lot of ships only become important later on, A lot of teammates know eachother before the games, Angst, BAMF!Akaashi, BAMF!Bokuto, BAMF!Kuroo, Bamf!Kenma, BokuAka Iwaoi Ushiten and Daisuga follow, Bokuaka - Freeform, But a few people are mean at the start, Childhood friends Kuroken, F/F, Farmer Ushijima is real, Fluff, Haikyuu but hunger games, Heavy Angst, I didn't want this for them, I respect Iwaizumi for dealing with him, I'm so sorry, Kenma Kozume has panic attacks, Kenma is more dangerous than everyone gives him credit for, Kozume Kenma-centric, KuroKen - Freeform, Kuroken is the main ship, M/M, Major Character Injury, Oikawa is such a drama queen, Panic Attacks, Pre-established Iwaoi - Freeform, Slow Burn, Sweet reunions, This is basically all 3 books/4 movies shoved into one story, UkaiTake, a lot of slow burn, almost everyone is in this even if they aren't really mentioned, basically everyone is awesome, but whatever it's fine - Freeform, convince me otherwise, daisuga - Freeform, kiyoyachi - Freeform, literally all of them - Freeform, poor kenma, poor kuroo, pre-established BokuAka friendship, so many characters - Freeform, some scenes are OOC, there is a LOT of plot in this story, there is gonna be character death, they are a bit background at the start, ushiten
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-01-11
Updated: 2020-12-25
Packaged: 2021-02-27 09:15:39
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 30
Words: 55,468
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22204684
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/A_Concerned_Citizen/pseuds/A_Concerned_Citizen
Summary: Catalyst-an agent that provokes or speeds significant change or actionKenma Kozume wasn't a particularly remarkable person, he disliked people and wasn't confrontational. He preferred to stick to the shadows and let others take the spotlight and was perfectly content with his life.Until he became a tribute for the hunger games.Everything was quickly growing out of hand as he made friends and enemies and reunites with someone from his past.And to top it all off, Kenma was becoming the catalyst for revolution.(AKA, Kenma accidentally sparks a revolution in the hunger games with the help of Kuroo, Bokuto, Akaashi, Oikawa, Iwaizumi, Daichi, Suga, Ushijima and Tendou)
Relationships: Akaashi Keiji & Bokuto Koutarou & Kozume Kenma & Kuroo Tetsurou, Akaashi Keiji & Kozume Kenma, Akaashi Keiji/Bokuto Koutarou, Azumane Asahi/Nishinoya Yuu, Bokuto Koutarou & Kuroo Tetsurou, Hinata Shouyou & Kozume Kenma, Hinata Shouyou/Kageyama Tobio, Inuoka Sou & Yamamoto Taketora, Iwaizumi Hajime/Oikawa Tooru, Kozume Kenma & Kuroo Tetsurou, Kozume Kenma & Yamamoto Taketora, Kozume Kenma/Kuroo Tetsurou, Sawamura Daichi/Sugawara Koushi, Shimizu Kiyoko & Kozume Kenma, Shimizu Kiyoko/Yachi Hitoka, Takeda Ittetsu/Ukai Keishin, Tendou Satori/Ushijima Wakatoshi
Series: Catalyst [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1927330
Comments: 515
Kudos: 408





	1. Death is calling, it's for you

**Author's Note:**

> I have been writing this story for the past 2 months so here is the first chapter. I will probably be updating weekly but honestly who knows.
> 
> A few important things to know before reading,  
> -while this includes and references a lot of the plot and points in the hunger games it is overall very different. There will be some elements of all 3 books/all 4 movies in this.  
> -This story takes Kenma's disdain for pointless authority to extremes  
> -A lot of characters/ships are very minor in the start but they are all here for a reason
> 
> So, without further adieu, here is chapter 1. Enjoy

The reaping was never a pleasant time of the year, for anyone. It was even worse for Kenma though, it was the only time of year he emerged from the forest surrounding the town in district 5. Nobody knew him. And that was good, because Kenma would _never_ let anyone get close to him. Not again.

He used to be in district 1, living a good life with his family and- No, don’t finish that thought. It only ever led to regret and grief. Either way, he had been part of district 1 before _it._ The day that changed everything. He was with …another person from district 1… out in the forest beyond the fence around the district, an area that they were not allowed to be in.

But Peacekeepers came.

He had shoved K- his… friend… into the grass and ran away from him, drawing the peacekeepers to follow him. He had been captured and ‘since he was just a kid’ as they put it, he was moved to district 5. Immediately. Kenma was pretty sure his family and friends thought he was dead.

Better than… the other kid… being taken away too.

After being moved to district 5 he didn’t speak. As far as anyone was concerned, he was mute. He went to the forest and lived there. Kenma learnt to survive on his own among the shelter of the trees and wildlife.

Except for the reaping.

It was essentially the only reason he emerged from his solitude. It was also the peacekeepers way of ensuring that he wasn’t dead yet. They intended to let him live a long, regret-filled life. The thought made Kenma scoff. Regret was part of life in Panem anyway, you didn’t need to chuck him into another district to make him despair.

But as Kenma walked to the reaping, wearing an old red jacket that was a bit-to-big on him, even after years of use. It used to belong to K- ...someone he used to know. It had ‘Nekoma’ written in white along the back, the letters faded slightly. He wrapped the jacket further around himself, as if to hide from view of everyone else.

He walked into the crowd and did his best to be invisible. Everyone filed into the square. It was becoming more packed and Kenma took a deep breath. He didn’t like being near so many people. Let alone being pressed, shoved and surrounded by noise. He grimaced but stayed silent.

The mayor walks onto stage and reads out ‘the story of Panem’

Kenma almost laughs. The ‘tragic sob story about sacrifice, resilience and the glory of the capitol’ was near sickening. Kenma tuned out the rest of the speech until the District 5 mentor and escort came onto stage. The mentor was named Ukai, he had won several years earlier and was a bit… strange… to say the least. He stumbled up in a slightly drunk manner. The escort, Takeda followed him. Takeda’s hand was gently wrapped around Ukai’s wrist, leading him to a seat with a small frown on his face.

Kenma raised an eyebrow, they seemed to be very familiar, just judging by the way Ukai followed Takeda’s lead without question.

Takeda let go of Ukai and gave him a small smile before going to the front of the stage, where there was a microphone. A single glass ball was placed on a pedestal to the left of it, filled with several pieces of paper. 2 of those slips would send someone to their death.

Takeda smiled, but Kenma cocked his head, thinking it looked a little bit sad.  
“Happy hunger games” and Takeda’s smile got brighter, at least, it seemed to. Kenma could see the lingering sadness behind it.

And then Takeda said that dreaded line,

_“May the odds be ever in your favour”_

Kenma got this sudden feeling of dread.

_This won’t end like the other reapings he had been to in district 5._

Takeda’s hand plunged into the glass ball. His thin fingers wrapping around a piece of paper. He pulled it out and slowly, so very slowly, opened the fold.

“Yamamoto Taketora”

Kenma released a single breath.

A scream echoed through the square.

Kenma turned his head to see a woman holding onto a boy, about Kenma’s age that he assumed was Yamamoto. The woman looked desperate, but her son was blank-faced and not moving. Kenma felt a wave of pity. He was processing that he would die.

Then, in a single motion, peacekeepers ripped the woman away and started moving the still-unmoving teen towards the stage. Takeda’s face never lost the smile, but it got gradually smaller before returning full force.

Yamamoto was on stage now, grimacing. He still looked shell-shocked, but he stood stiffly with a fake smile.

Takeda dipped his hand into the ball again. It was barely visible, and the average person wouldn’t see it but Kenma did. His golden eyes saw everything. Takeda’s hand was shaking, just slightly, but still there.

The man took a deep breath and gripped a slip of paper.

He pulled it out and leaned into the microphone.

“Hinata Shoyo”

Several things happened at once,

A strangled cry from Hinata’s mother.

A shocked gasp from the whole crowd.

Peacekeepers watching intently as a short boy with wild orange hair and a sad smile walked towards the stage.

Kenma saw peacekeepers restraining a tall dark-haired boy with piercing dark blue eyes.

The teen was shouting, “HINATA!”

The short boy turned with tears in his eyes “it’s ok Kageyama, it’ll… it’ll be ok.”

The dark-haired boy, Kageyama, started to say “I v- “

Then Hinata’s mother pulled him back, clasping a hand over his mouth. Hinata smiled at the pair and a little girl Kenma assumed was his sister. He mouthed to his mother ‘thank you’ before continuing to walk.

Then Kenma realised several things.

One, He knew Hinata. The kid that had seen him in the forest one day and come back the next with some bread. He was thin and surely needed it more himself, but he gave it to a stranger in the woods. Every so often the energetic boy would find him and give him food. He would always talk and sometimes Kenma would give short, one-word replies.

Second, that that wasn’t all he saw of the boy. It was, admittedly, quite hard to avoid the town of district 5 even if he was a recluse that lived in the woods. He would often see Hinata running around, trying to help whoever he could with a wide smile.

Third, people cared about him. Kenma looked to the crowd, all of whom knew the small boy and had hands over their mouths in shock and grief. His mother had tears streaming down her cheeks as she held her daughter, who’s eyes were red and puffy. Kageyama was with them, holding them too, his eyes were dark and wet, his frame shaking with silent sobs.

In a single moment, Kenma made a decision. One he knew he wouldn’t regret.

_“I volunteer”_


	2. The past came knocking

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The aftermath of Kenma volunteering and a shocking discovery.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you enjoy the chapter!  
> (Again, please note that Kenma's disdain for authority is ramped up to extremes in this fic, thanks)

“I volunteer”

All of district 5 turned to him. Hinata stopped moving. Kageyama’s shaking stopped. The peacekeepers froze.

He walked from the crowd into the isle. Hinata turned to him and his eyes widened in recognition and said “wait- wait no, you- “

Peacekeepers gripped Hinata’s arms and pulled him back to the shocked people.

Kenma walked forward, not looking back at the short boy, but he could feel his eyes burning into him. He spared a glance at one of the peacekeepers. Somehow the helmets seemed lighter than normal and Kenma could see the sadistic grin.

He nearly scowled, he didn’t like the pointless authority the peacekeepers demanded so he surprised the man by giving him an equally sadistic smile, letting his teeth poke through his lips and he cocked his head in challenge. He let his eyes stay bitter but full of dark amusement.

He walked to the stage confidently. He would die. But it would be on his terms. Kenma let his eyes rake over the gathered crowd. Hinata was looking at him with tears in his eyes and hurt. Hinata’s mother smiled at him with wet eyes. Kenma couldn’t see Hinata’s sisters face, but he could see a small thumbs up emerging from the sea of heads. He smiled slightly. He had helped those people.

But Kageyama’s reaction was even more gratifying. His eyes were locked on Kenma’s, and full of gratitude. His arms were tightly clasped around Hinata in what Kenma expected was a bone-crushing hug. Kageyama had a wide smile that seemed out of place on such a stern face.

Kenma did something he simply didn’t do anymore, he laughed.

A small, delicate sound but his face broke into a shining smile. He felt his eyes go wet. He would die, but it was for a good cause. Because of him, Hinata’s mother would have her son back, Hinata’s sister would have her brother back. And Kageyama would have his best friend.

Takeda looked shocked, but he came towards him with the microphone, his eyes shining with… something.  
“What is your name?” he asked.

“My name is Kozume Kenma”

Takeda nodded and then turned to the crowd.  
“The tributes of district 5” He said in a showy manner.

The crowd clapped, like it normally did. But now there was cheering.

Kenma turned to Yamamoto and gave him a smaller smile. The other teen was looking at him with something akin to awe.

~*~

Takeda led them off the stage and into two separate rooms.  
“A chance for any loved ones to visit” the man explained before leaving.

Kenma sat in silence. Nobody would come so what’s the point?

The creak of the door opening made Kenma look up, an excitable orange-haired teen ran through. He started at Hinata for a moment in bewilderment.  
“Why?” Hinata said in a near-hoarse voice, “why did you volunteer for me?”  
“Because you have people that care about you, and you have helped me in the past” Kenma said simply.

“T-thank you” Hinata said softly.

Hinata’s mother came into the room and hugged Kenma.  
“Thank you,” she said, “for saving my son”

Kageyama was next to follow, he kept his distance, but he looked at him with the same gratitude as earlier.

Soon a peacekeeper came in and said with a gruff voice “Time’s up”

The Hinata family (plus Kageyama) left, all saying thank you and wishing him luck. All had sad smiles on their faces as they exited the room.

Without the energetic ginger the room seemed a bit empty, thank goodness Yamamoto came in and started to speak. Kenma could read the awe in his eyes and cut him off before he even spoke.  
“Don’t treat me differently because I volunteered. I am just like you. I don’t want your awe. It is misplaced”

Yamamoto looked at him curiously before saying “…ok”

Takeda walked back in, he clapped his hands together and said “ok! Let’s get both of you on the train”

~*~

Kenma lay on his oddly comfortable bed. The train reminded him a bit of district 1. Sure, the district wasn’t as wealthy as the capitol, but they were a lot more luxurious than district 5.

Everything was ornate and seemed overly complicated. He smiled at the jacket that still adorned his shoulders. Whatever happened, he would remember his friend. He wouldn’t go down without a fight.

Kenma felt the pit of dread that had been slowly forming since his statement at the reaping lessen slightly. It was hardening into resolve.

But for now, for now Kenma would let himself cry.

For Hinata and his family.

For District 5.

For all the people that would die.

For his family.

For his friend.

For the life he left behind.

~*~

Kenma’s eyes opened slightly, the harsher light of the train still new to his eyes. He let out a small groan and pushed himself off the pillows that seemed to swallow him.

The sun glared at him through the windows and he couldn’t help but scowl back.

Some people forgot the day previous for a few seconds when waking up. Kenma wasn’t one of those people. He liked to face reality as it was and currently? That reality wasn’t looking too good.

He was a tribute from district 5 for the hunger games.  
Fantastic.

He looked at the decadent pale green and pink dresser before opening the top drawer hesitantly.

He wrinkled his nose at all the bright, hideous clothing before seeing a pair of black shorts and a singlet. He changed out of the night clothes they had been given the night before and into the shorts and top before placing the red ‘Nekoma’ jacket he had worn yesterday over it.

He hesitantly opened the door and went out into the main carriage.

Sitting at a fancy table were Ukai and Yamamoto. They were arguing about something and Kenma tuned out his thoughts for a moment to listen.  
“How do we find shelter?”  
“By whatever means necessary”  
“What the hell does that mean?”  
“It means- “

Kenma coughed slightly to alert them of his presence and they both turned to him. Their eyes raked over him before both shrugged and turning back to their food.

The silence was almost deafening so Kenma sat down as well. There was a selection of food he only vaguely remembered. He was going to die in about a week so may as well make the most of it right?

He surveyed the table and noticed a food he hadn’t seen in years. He knew his eyes lit up because that’s what people always used to tell him he did when he saw apple pie. He eagerly shuffled some (read: all except one slice) onto his plate and began eating it with a small smile.

Ukai looked at him curiously and scoffed slightly, “You’re certainly a weird one”

Kenma, having no brain-to-mouth filter this early, said “look who’s talking” in a deadpan voice.

Ukai and Yamamoto both stopped. Yamamoto put a hand over his mouth and coughed to hide his smile. Ukai looked him dead in the eye before laughing. It was loud and booming and Kenma glared at him for being so loud, but the man simply said “You’ve got some spunk kid”

Kenma ignored him and continued devouring the apple pie on his plate. It tasted heavenly.

A opalescent door opened from the other side of the carriage he had entered from and in walked Takeda. His hair looked… interesting to say the least. It was a dark green that suited him well but had metallic bronze highlights. He was wearing an emerald green suit with delicate gold strips adding swirling and spiraling decoration. It didn’t look _too_ bad but Kenma didn’t think anyone else would ever be able to pull it off.

“Good morning everyone!” he said cheerfully before his voice turned more somber. “All the other tributes have been chosen and they are airing the video now”

A fizzle made them all turn to the large television near one of the windows. It sprang to life and a female reporter with gravity-defying platinum blonde hair and dark blue dress that swirled around her was speaking. Kenma couldn’t seem to make out the words. He was too busy realizing that this was the reaping in district 1.

The video of the reporter cut, and it switched to focus on a familiar square in district 1. He remembered the first year… his friend… was eligible. That day was full of dark dread and worry curling in his throat and stomach. He remembered his friend’s arms around him, soothing him, telling him it was ok. Kenma remembered the surge of relief when his friend wasn’t chosen, then disgust with himself, seeing the petrified face of a small girl that hadn’t been taught as much as the other careers.

But he was jolted out of his thoughts as the district 1 escort (he couldn’t remember the name of the bouncy, wide-smiled woman no matter how hard he tried) came onto the decadent stage.

She spoke delicately, as if she wasn’t sending people to their deaths.

“Happy hunger games” her smile was to wide, it had to be fake “may the odds be ever in your favor”

The black-and-blonde haired teen was too far into his mind that he didn’t hear the first name, but he saw someone, probably the same age as him, maybe a bit older or younger, go toward the stage with a wide smile that held far too many teeth. There was an unpleasantly vicious gleam in his eyes that scared Kenma.

 _Avoid him!_ His mind screamed.

Then the woman’s hand dipped into the glass ball again.

Kenma watched with bated breath, _please don’t let it be someone I know, please don’t let it-_

_“Kuroo Tetsuro”_

And that hope was shattered in an instant.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you liked it! See ya next week


	3. Fate just made an appointment with you

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> PANIC ATTACK WARNING!!
> 
> Kenma does have a panic attack at the start of this chapter but it is over pretty quick and the rest of the chapter is uneventful, but if it is a trigger skip until the line 'he was ok' or just skip the chapter altogether, not much happens as it is mostly a set up for upcoming chapters.

Kenma watched with bated breath, _please don’t let it be someone I know, please don’t let it-_

_“Kuroo Tetsuro”_

And that hope was shattered in an instant

~*~

Kenma felt his breathing speed up and his eyes slide out of focus.

 _“Kuroo,”_ he whispered, _“God no… not Kuroo”_

Everyone in the carriage turned to him.  
“What are you talking about?” Yamamoto near-demanded, “do you know him?!”

Takeda and Ukai said nothing, just gave each other concerned glances that Kenma would normally analyse if he wasn’t on the verge of a panic attack.

Kenma slid from the chair, the apple pie suddenly tasting like ash and blood (probably his body and mind’s sick way of foreshadowing.) He puked onto the cold floor. Takeda let out an offended gasp but Ukai’s sharp glare shut him up. Kenma’s body shook and he was sure he looked like a ghost. His pale arms wrapped around his frame as he tried to curl in on himself. His eyes keep darting around the carriage and to the three people watching him with various gazes of concern, confusion and curiosity.

His mind felt hazy and light but heavy at the same time. His eyes couldn’t focus on anything. His breathing was erratic and shook his body. His arms shivered and quivered. His-

“Your name is Kozume Kenma. Kenma you are on the train you boarded yesterday. You are a tribute for the hunger games from district 5. My name is Ukai. I am your mentor for the games. The people next to me are Taketora Yamamoto and Ittetsu Takeda. Yamamoto is your partner in the games, he’s also from district 5. Itte- Takeda is the escort for district 5. We are headed to the capitol. The weather is nice, a few clouds are out…”

Ukai’s voice filled his ears and it grounded him. Right. A grip. A grip on the situation.

A deep breath.

His name was Kenma. He was a tribute. He was with Ukai, Yamamoto and Takeda.

He was ok.

“Thanks” he said shakily, shuffling off the floor back onto his seat. He wrinkled his nose at the puke on the ground, but Yamamoto was already starting to clean it up.  
“How… how did you know how to calm me down?” He asked carefully, voice still shaky. Kuroo used to calm him down whenever he got anxious by holding him tight and blocking him off from the rest of the world with his height, and they learnt that through experience. So how did Ukai learn?

“In the games, and after, you… aren’t always the same” the man in question said softly, his voice sad. “I found that I needed to ground myself and I just had to try I guess”

“Kuroo used to hug me and remind me he was there. Then we’d go get apple pie from this bakery the next street over” Kenma half-whispered.

“Kuroo? You mean the tribute from district 1?” Yamamoto exclaimed, finished cleaning the floor now. “How do you know him? You’re from different districts?”

Kenma huffed, he knew this would probably have to come up sooner or later, but he really hoped it would be later

“I used to be from district 1” He said simply.  
This elicited different reactions, Yamamoto gaped, Ukai’s eyes widened and nodded to himself and Takeda inhaled sharply in a theatrical manner Kenma didn’t think suited normal humans.  
“So why…?” Yamamoto began before trailing off.  
“I was with Kuroo. He was always my best friend”

Ukai’s eyes turned sad and sympathetic. Kenma realised that Ukai thought he would have to kill Kuroo during the games.  
But he couldn’t. He _couldn’t_ kill Kuroo.

“But then… we saw something we shouldn’t have. I heard peacekeepers coming, so I pushed Kuroo into the grass. I ran to draw them away.”

Takeda gasped and shuffled to Ukai who put a tentative arm around him in comfort.

“They caught me.” Kenma said bluntly, “And since I was just a kid or whatever they sent me to district 5. My family, and probably Kuroo too, most likely thought I was dead.”

Everyone looked at him with wide eyes and pity.  
“And now I’m in the hunger games with my best friend that I haven’t seen in years” he finished bitterly.

There was a moment of silence before Ukai clapped loudly and said “ok! Now let’s finish breakfast”

Kenma smiled gratefully at the man but said “I might just go to my room and read for a bit if that’s ok?”  
Takeda butted in and with a kind smile said “It’s been an eventful morning; take all the time you need”

~*~

When Kenma finally emerged for food it was evening. The windows let him see out over the districts to the shimmering horizon. The sky was painted with orange, red, pink and purple, all fading into a deep blue. The sun glittered like a dying phoenix as it sunk in the distance.

He smiled slightly. It was beautiful.

He walked forward quietly, seeing Takeda snoozing on Ukai’s shoulder while he read. They both sat on the couch while Yamamoto watched television. It was peaceful and Kenma relished in the feeling before seeing an imposing silhouette emerge from the horizon.

Ukai seemed to notice him stop and saw where he was looking. He whispered something to Takeda to wake him up before nudging Yamamoto to get up and join Kenma.

Takeda (with slightly messy hair and a yawn) stood next to Ukai, giving him a weak glare while complaining about beauty sleep before seeing what they were looking at. His eyes lit up and straightened his back, consciously or not.

The train drew them closer to the skyline of the strange city. And Kenma felt a sense of foreboding. As they slowed and the city came closer, he realised what they were seeing.

“Welcome to the Capitol”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please leave comments and kudos if you enjoyed!  
> I have never experienced a panic attack so I am just writing based on other things I had read and my research, but if you are able to give me any recommendations on how to make the scene better, please do so and I will be happy to edit.  
> The next chapter will probably be out Wednesday or Thursday next week since this one was pretty short. Have a great week!


	4. Fashion didn't like your style

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> We are introduced to a few characters and Kenma gets ready for the parade.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A bit of background info I kind of forgot to mention.  
> -All the 3rd years are 18, 2nd years and 17 & 1st years are 16.  
> -Kenma moved from district 1 when he was 13 and Kuroo was 14. So by this point they have been separated for 4 years.
> 
> Hope you enjoy the chapter!

“Welcome to the Capitol”

~*~

Kenma did his best to smile and wave at people as he walked past them, but he didn’t really have that kind of confidence. Yamamoto was in front of him, smiling widely and walking cheerfully.

It was ridiculous, Kenma thought, that he could be so upbeat and cheerful when they were going to be in the hunger games. A ‘game’ designed to send everyone to their deaths.

Kenma continued to walk forward with a fake smile plastered on his face.

May as well act happy though.

~*~

He was led into a cold, silver room, being told that the designer for the chariot parade would meet him there. He shuffled, feeling awkward in the sterile-seeming room.

After a few minutes of looking at the different grey walls he heard the tapping of heels. A woman with long black hair (that seemed to be her natural hair-colour, which shocked him after seeing all the crazily dyed monstrosities of the capitol) entered. She was dressed in a white-and-grey dress. It fit her well and looked pretty. There was a strip of glitter along the waistline before it spread out into a flowing skirt. Her make-up was clean and pretty. She had silver eyeshadow, but it didn’t dominate her face. She had thin glasses with a black frame. There was swirling flower-like patterns sweeping across the sides. Her hair was left untouched except for a silver flower tucked behind her ear. She was pretty, Kenma had to admit.

She smiled kindly at him “My name is Kiyoko; I’ll be designing your costume for the parade. And your outfits for the rest of your stay in the capitol.”

“ok…” he said, a bit nervous. He had seen some of the costumes for previous years and they were _hideous._

Kiyoko laughed, seemingly knowing what he was thinking, “don’t worry. I think we can have you represent your district _without_ looking ridiculous”

“Please come into the centre of the room and I’ll bounce ideas off you ok?”

Kenma followed her directions and listened as she spouted idea after idea. Most of which he quietly rejected. She was nice about it and kept going. She came closer to look at him and said “Your eyes are golden. Is that natural?”  
Kenma nodded, “Nobody knows how I got them, my immediate family don’t have them, and I don’t know many distant relatives.”  
“Interesting… hmm, your face and build looks very feminine, has anyone ever told you that?”  
“Yes actually,” Kenma smiled, remembering it. “When I was young, I didn’t really have any friends until I met this boy a year older than me. At first, he thought I was a girl and, even at his age, tried to flirt with me. His face was hilarious when I told him I wasn’t a girl. It became a sort of inside joke between us. He’d sometimes playfully flirt with me…” Kenma trailed off, sinking into more memories of Kuroo and the various things they had done growing up.

“You must like him a lot” Kiyoko remarked, dragging him out of his thoughts.

“Yeah…” Kenma said sadly, knowing that he _would_ be meeting Kuroo again and that it may not go well.

Kiyoko seemed to pick up on his declining mood and her eyes lit up. “I have an idea,” she said, “and I think you’ll like it”

As the raven-haired woman explained her plan Kenma felt excitement build inside him.

_This was going to be fun._

~*~

As Kiyoko put the final touches on his outfit and makeup a TV on one of the otherwise blank walls sprung to life.

The screen showed a large area that Kenma had seen before. It was the place they would ride through on their chariots. Things had changed over the past few years. They did each district one at a time and introduced all of the tributes separately as part of this. ‘To help the capitol get to know their tributes’ or some flimsy excuse like that.

Suddenly doors at the end of the large pathway opened dramatically. The room beyond it was dark, you couldn’t see anything. And then a gleaming charcoal-grey chariot emerged from the darkness. It had streaks of red that reminded Kenma of the ‘Nekoma’ jacket Kuroo used to own (and was still in Kenma’s possession.) It was grand and obnoxious and suited Kuroo perfectly.

Speaking of Kuroo.

He looked _good._

Tight, black leather pants with silver studs along seams and carefully ripped at the knees. There were a few carefully placed holsters on his hip and legs too. He wore black combat boots and had a black t-shirt that was tight enough to let his muscles and chest show. His hair was in it’s usual ‘bed-head’ but it looked shiny and sleek. To top it all off he had a black jacket with various pockets and zips. It was stylish but made him look dangerous.

Like he could win the hunger games.

Kenma smirked at all the swooning capitol women. He had worked out that you needed sponsors to win. Kuroo was sure to get plenty using his looks alone but he knew that Kuroo could charm a crowd with a few words. He had a real shot at winning.

His partner (who he knew the name of now, Inuoka) looked the same, but Kenma felt Kuroo pulled it off better and was more confident, looking for all the world like the sweetheart of the capitol.

Kenma smiled at Kiyoko as she hummed appreciatively at his face. “I think you need to get to the chariot now. Each district doesn’t take too long and you’ll be up before you know it.”

~*~

Kenma walked forward, Kiyoko at his side. She held a tablet that let them continue to watch the parade while they walked.

District 2 (Bokuto Koutarou and Akaashi Keiji) wore something resembling Greek armour. Their helmets were... odd and reminded Kenma of an owl. The main armour was golden with white edges and the undershirt was black.

District 3 (Terushima Yuuji and Misaki Hana) had silver chains draped over their shoulders, looking surprisingly classy. Misaki had a pale-yellow dress that hugged her frame before splitting at her thigh. She cut an elegant figure with silver beads and ribbon wound into her hair. Terushima was also in pale yellow but his outfit was similar to Kuroo’s in the sense that it was more designed to leave a deadly impression. His smirk was full of teeth and his eyes were already promising murder.

District 4 (Oikawa Tooru and Iwaizumi Hajime) were wearing light blue and white. Oikawa looked like a model in white skinny jeans (with light grey straps and holsters to subtly hint at a proficiency with weapons) and light blue shirt. It was sparkly, glittery and fit the capitol perfectly.

Kenma could already tell he would be a fan favourite.

His partner, Iwaizumi, was more modest. He still had white skinny jeans and a blue top, but it was less glittery and a slightly darker shade.

They looked like a picture-perfect pair. They smiled at each other and Kenma felt a pit of dread. That look. They were in l-

Oikawa and Iwaizumi kissed.

The crowd went crazy and cheered. Even through the video Kenma felt deafened. 

Kenma didn’t feel joyful like the capitol about this development though. Only one person won the hunger games and trying to have a relationship would only get you killed.

Kiyoko stopped and turned a corner. Yamamoto was waiting with another woman with short blonde hair. She introduced herself as Yachi before quickly asking them to get onto the chariot.

Yamamoto gave him a once-over.  
“Not bad Kozume” he said with a smile.  
Kenma nodded at him with a small smirk in return.

The door in front of them was closed and the room was dark but Kenma felt excited.

Kiyoko gave him a thumbs up from the exit and mouthed ‘it’s time, good luck’

The door opened and people started cheering.

_Time to put on a show to remember._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you enjoyed please leave comments and Kudos, they really make my day. I'll next update either sometime this weekend or monday. Have a great day (or night depending)!


	5. Destiny Came Calling

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kuroo reflects on how he got to this point.
> 
> (AKA, We get Kuroo's POV for the first time! Yay!)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Finally changing POV's!  
> This chapter (and the next) are two of my favorites so I really hope you enjoy!

Kuroo wasn’t a simple person.  
Underneath all the laughter, remarks and smirks he was still hurting.

Hurting for the friend he had lost.

It had been a normal day. He and Kenma had been in the forest, talking like they usually did. They were always together and were practically attached at the hip.

And then Kenma froze.

Kuroo had realized early on that Kenma noticed everything. He was always attentive in a way no one else was or could be. He always knew when Kuroo needed to vent and always listened. He knew more about a person after seeing them once than most did after knowing someone for years. He could practically read minds. He also saw things most people didn’t. He noticed small changes in an environment over long periods of time. He saw patterns before anyone else could. He was, quite simply, a quiet genius.

So Kenma freezing immediately set him off. Something was not right.

Then it happened.

Suddenly he had been pushed into the long grass and shrubbery, sharp blades cutting into his bare skin. He heard heavy footsteps and realised what Kenma had just done. He pulled his head up to see his friend running like he hadn’t before. He was sprinting through trees to get as far away from Kuroo as possible. Kuroo’s jacket was on his shoulders (he had given it to the blonde earlier, he remembered. Kenma didn’t like being cold) and whipping behind him. The red-and-white seeming to act as a beacon.

Peacekeepers flooded past Kuroo to follow the teen. They all had guns out and were deadly focused. Kuroo nearly screamed out for Kenma to run faster dammit before realizing that Kenma did this for him. So that they both wouldn’t be taken.

He now wanted to scream more.

He heard nothing except the pounding feet and then a tiny gasp as Kenma was grasped by the peacekeepers. Kuroo stayed hidden in the grass. He watched as Kenma was lifted off his feet and taken away.

Then, when the footsteps became quiet, he ran. He sprinted to his home and shut himself in his room and wept. He cried for the fact he did nothing. _Why didn’t he do something?_ His body was wracked with heaving breaths as he tore himself apart, thinking of his best friend. Sweet Kenma that didn’t like to use much energy and who Kuroo would regularly carry around. Kenma who was shy around new people. Kenma who could devour a whole apple pie in 3 seconds flat. Kenma who made witty remarks in the morning when he had no filter and scathing ones to people he didn’t like.

Kenma who was most likely dead.

His life was like a blur after that. He attended the academy, became lethal and deadly. He smiled and expanded his social life, gaining power within the district. He acted confident and cocky, making a persona that he played perfectly.

All while hiding his grief.

He stayed in touch with Kenma’s family. He acted like he knew nothing about Kenma’s disappearance. He cried with them and helped them where he could.

Soon 4 years had passed, and he was 18. Then his final reaping came. The words still echoed in his head.

“Kuroo Tetsuro”

He didn’t cry, didn’t act shocked. Just smiled, like he normally did.

Just smile, like you won’t die.  
Just smile, like you want this.  
Just smile, like you haven’t already been dead for years.

It was crazy really, just how much Kenma had impacted his life. He knew him since they were kids. He was a constant in Kuroo’s life. He always paid more attention now and learnt more about everyone around him.

But that didn’t matter because he’d be with Kenma soon right?

At the time he hadn’t realised quite how literal that would be.

The train ride had been smooth. Kuroo just sat at the table and ate until the bubbly escort came in. Her hair was bubble-gum pink and flailed out from her head. She had sherbet pink makeup all over her face and rosy cheeks, her dress was covered in pink and white frills.

“All the tributes have been chosen. You can see the video now”

Kuroo had hesitantly turned to the large tv and watched the different reapings.

He ignored district 1 but payed close attention to all the others. District 2 had two male tributes. They seemed very different, one was loud and smiled widely while the other was quiet and tried to reign in his partner. 

District 3 had a male and female. One seemed flirtatious and unserious while the other smiled softly and was able to stay more composed.

Then district 4. Two males. Both tall and even through a screen Kuroo could tell they had demanding presences. One had carefully styled brown hair and a cocky smirk while the other seemed to walk with a certain amount of confidence and pride.

Then it all went to hell with district 5.

_“Yamamoto Taketora"_

Normal 

_“Hinata Shoyo”_

Norma-

_“I volunteer”_

Kuroo remembered nearly gasping. That voice was so similar to-

Kenma had emerged from the crowd. His black roots as they were normally but the dyed-blonde hair was longer than the last time Kuroo saw him. 

Kuroo had watched with bated breath as the short ginger had turned pale.

_“wait- wait no, you- “_

Kuroo remembers how Kenma walked up with a small smile. How as he stood on the stage he looked out at the crowd and laughed.

Kuroo missed Kenma’s laugh.

He missed Kenma

And now they were both in the hunger games.

But now, at the parade, he would see Kenma for the first time in 4 years. 

On the chariot he had felt a small sense of power, like, just for a moment, he was on the top of the world. 

Now he was waiting. Waiting to see the best friend he thought had died.

Districts 2, 3 and 4 went by slowly, or at least, they did for Kuroo. He looked at the other chariots, all of the other tributes were looking towards the door too. They might have also seen the reapings and were probably curious about the feline-like volunteer.

Kuroo felt like ripping their gazes away. These people would have to kill or would be killed and Kuroo would be damned if he let anyone kill Kenma.

“And from district 5, Yamamoto Taketora and Kozume Kenma!” 

The announcers voice rang out and Kuroo’s body tensed in anticipation.

The door opened.

Yamamoto had makeup that highlighted his jawline and made him look sharp, like a blade. He had eyeliner that made his eyes stand out. His outfit was black and fit him well, there were streaks of gold sewn into the fabric. He looked dangerous.

But the real star of the show was Kenma.

His makeup made his already feminine features more prominent. His cheekbones looked like they could cut glass.

The real stunner was his eyes though. 

Kuroo had always known Kenma had beautiful eyes, the golden colour made them unique and exotic, but now they were accentuated by black eyeliner (Kuroo had learnt a thing or two about makeup in the last several hours) and golden dust. His outfit was also black and gold but looked quite different. It clung to his frame, but it had gold interwoven into the fabric in a slightly different way. His hair was cut and looked even. His designer must have decided to keep the black roots but touched them up slightly. His smile was pure white and blinding. He moved with a grace Kuroo knew he possessed but had never seen.

He looked regal. 

Kuroo was stunned, this was a different Kenma than he knew. This Kenma seemed so much more confident and friendly. 

Kuroo just watched as the crowd went wild and cheered for the pair until he heard one of the tributes from district 4 (Oikawa, his mind supplied) half-whisper to his partner “Damn, he’s pretty” 

Kuroo was ready to jump of the district 1 chariot and attack the arrogant ass before he saw Iwaizumi whack Oikawa in the head (hard too, by the looks of it)

The district 5 chariot stopped and Kuroo tried to resume smiling but he was on autopilot.

~*~

The parade was over and Kuroo was still reeling as he walked through the empty grey halls with a small frown.

The interviews were going to be tomorrow night and he would be lying if he said he wasn’t a little nervous. 

The interviews had the potential to be a make or break moment in the hunger games, as soon as his name was called at the reaping it began. Going into the arena was just a formality.

Because everyone here was ready to kill to win.

Kuroo sighed, it was a death sentence really, to have your name drawn. He wasn’t under the illusions that everyone else in the career districts were. Kuroo really didn’t want this to be his fate. To die at the hands of some arrogant person that would die the next day to another. It was just a cycle of meaningless death.

And even if you were one of the ‘lucky’ people to ‘win’ you wouldn’t be the same. Kuroo knew enough about haunting events to know that killing someone or never seeing someone again one day was mentally damaging.

In an odd way he almost hoped he and Kenma would die. Then neither of them would have to suffer-

Wait. Kenma.

Kuroo inhaled sharply. Kenma would probably die. One of the 22 other people would probably kill Kenma.

 _No, they won’t._ His brain supplied darkly. _Kenma won’t be killed by them. Kenma will live._

And thus, it was decided.

Kenma would live.

Even if Kuroo had to die to ensure it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please, if you enjoyed leave comments and kudos. They really make my day and help motivate me to continue doing this <3  
> Next chapter will probably be out Friday but if it isn't then it will be out on Saturday.
> 
> Hope y'all have a great week. <3


	6. Hell says they have an open apartment

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The interviews take an unexpected turn.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ok! Everyone get ready for this chapter. It is one of my favorites for a reason and I really hope y'all like it.
> 
> Just a note, some scenes will be a bit OOC, that is partially because I am bad at writing and partially because the tributes are ACTING. During the interviews they need to make an impression and have to play up certain things.
> 
> Anyway, enjoy!

Oikawa was a _little bit pissed,_ to say the least. This week did not go as planned.

Because he was now in the hunger games with his boyfriend Iwaizumi and only one person could win.

But that was ok because Oikawa was fine with dying if it meant his lover would live.

He was content with that.

The problem was that little pudding-haired teen from district 5. He had stunned the crowd at the parade with his big golden eyes and cat-like grace. Which again, was fine because Oikawa was more beautiful that anyone here. However, Oikawa knew a genius when he saw one and Kozume was trouble. He could see the teen analysing all of his opponents, but he had _no_ idea what he was thinking.

 _That_ was the problem.

Oikawa was pretty good at knowing how people worked, what made them tick and how to irritate them, but he just couldn’t get a read on this person. He felt like a novice compared to the blank canvas that was Kenma Kozume.

Then there was the cocky teen from district 1. Tetsuro Kuroo.

Kuroo played the part of the charming lady’s man that would win the hunger games at all costs. Oikawa _hated_ that. Because that was supposed to be _his_ role. He was dangerous too though, he was tall, clearly strong and had a vicious gleam in his eyes.

Oikawa already knew a lot about the other tributes just by watching them and he was already plotting ways to get rid of them, to exploit weaknesses and-

“Tooru, I can hear you thinking from over here”

Iwaizumi’s voice brought him out of his dark thoughts. “Sorry Iwa-chan” he said with an only-slightly forced smile.

Oikawa heard a soft sigh behind him and felt arms snake around him.

“It’s fine, just get some sleep please. I know how you get. Don’t stay up all night watching and re-watching the reapings and the parade just to try get ahead.”

Oikawa turned to look at Iwaizumi, about to protest before he saw the soft smile on his face.

He really couldn’t say no to his boyfriend.

“Ok.”

~*~

Oikawa was watching first tribute from district 1 walk off the stage. The cheerful teen (Inuoka, his mind supplied) was bright and bubbly. He had the sort of energy that made you smile and want to be in his company.

It was infuriating.

Especially since the crowd loved Inuoka and his wide smiles.

Iwaizumi must have picked up on his irritation because he felt a hand slide neatly into his without a word. It was nice to have someone he cared about with him, there to comfort and support him.

Then again, it kind of wasn’t because only one of them would be going back.

The interviews had started with Inuoka and Oikawa was surprised at the aptitude with which he had handled the questions, confidently and cheerfully. Everyone else was waiting in line backstage, watching one of the several screens showing the other interviews.

Oikawa felt himself tense up again as the other tribute, Kuroo, walked onto the stage with a confident swagger. His hair was still in the style he had at the parade, gravity defying with a weird half-fringe but it was cleaner and sharper, more organized.

His grin was wide and seemed like more of a smirk. He winked at the crowd and Oikawa was disgusted by the swooning women.

Everyone was acting fake.

Kuroo smiled charmingly at the host, a man called Nekomata. He was old, no doubt, but the capitol could make anyone look younger. Nekomata had been the host for several years and always did his best to make each tribute shine.

He and Kuroo got on like a house on fire and bantered back and forth for a moment, having the crowd laugh loudly with them, before they both sobered.

“Kuroo, how are you this fine evening?” Nekomata asked cheerfully.

“I am splendid” Kuroo said with a wide smile, “how are you?”

“Absolutely wonderful thank you. So, how are you finding the capitol?”

“Spectacular” Kuroo said extravagantly with an exaggerated movement, his voice not sounding bitter, but Oikawa, having a tendency to study people, could sense the vicious undertones in his sharp smile and boisterous tone.

“Great” Nekomata said with a clap. “Do you think you can win the hunger games?”

“Oh, nobody can say for sure. The odds could be in anyone’s favour” Kuroo’s smile got impossibly sharper and seemed deadly. He clearly wasn’t a fan of the capitols favourite motto and judging by all the tributes sneers and smirks, they agreed.

Nekomata could evidently sense it and his hand twitched where it rested on his armrest, mostly hidden from view. His eyes became sadder, he must’ve agreed. Oikawa cocked his head. Nekomata was more sympathetic than most in the capitol about the inevitable death that would happen in the games. It wasn’t just a game and he knew it. He tried his best so that everyone would be remembered.

Because most of them sure as hell wouldn’t survive.

“Oh, so modest, modesty is lovely, but I do want your answer.” Nekomata’s smile widened, “do you think you can win the hunger games?”

“I’d like to think I have a decent chance of winning but all of us are very talented people.”

Nekomata’s eyes gleamed at the golden chance Kuroo had just given him. “Then what, pray tell, is your talent?”

Kuroo smirked and gave a wink to the crowd. “I’m pretty sneaky”

The crowd laughed loudly, in an almost obnoxious manner.

Nekomata chuckled and his eyes scanned the crowd, watching their reaction.

All the tributes glared at Kuroo upon seeing the Capitol latching onto Kuroo’s humour and witty responses.

Nekomata and Kuroo made a few jokes, playfully bantering back and forth before a buzzer sounded and Nekomata announced grandly,  
“Tetsuro Kuroo!”

Kuroo walked off stage with a wide smile, looking back and waving at the crowd cheerfully before vanishing behind-stage before appearing a moment later, walking past the tense line of tributes. His smile was tighter and pulled down into a frown as he passed, veering off just before him and Iwaizumi. He stood next to Inuoka with a pondering look on his face.

They all turned to the screens again as they heard the crowd start cheering again. Oikawa noticed the absence of the two tributes from the line as he saw Bokuto and Akaashi from district 2 come onto the stage. Bokuto was skipping and was enthusiastic, the crowd went crazy as he yelled his appreciation back at them. Bokuto’s hand was tightly wound with Akaashi’s as he tugged his more polite partner across the stage. The raven-haired teen waved at the crowd with a smile that would look real to the unprofessional eye. Oikawa noted however, the way his smile became softer when looking at his teammate. _So, they knew each other…_

Nekomata gave an enthusiastic laugh as he watched their shenanigans.  
“I already love this pair, don’t you folks?”

The Capitol roared in agreement and Bokuto’s smile became blinding.  
“Everyone has been so nice but all of you are amazing”

The crowd’s cheers became impossibly louder.

_Damn, he’s pretty charismatic._

Nekomata waited for them to sit and for the noise to quieten before he said, “I take it you two have known each other for a while?”

Bokuto replied boisterously “yup!” while Akaashi gave a long-suffering sigh before saying,  
“too long”

Everyone laughed at Akaashi’s dead-pan response and even the tributes smirked a little.

Nekomata chuckled before sobering, “And you two are close?”  
The two answering nods making him frown a bit.  
“How do you two feel knowing only one person can win the hunger games?”

The crowd went quiet in anticipation and Iwaizumi’s hand squeezed Oikawa’s.

Bokuto opened his mouth, his eyes steely, but Akaashi spoke first.

“I would die for Bokuto. If it came down to it, I would kill myself to let him survive. He’s one of the best people I know though he may be an idiot sometimes.” Akaashi smiled fondly at the dumbfounded teen next to him. “He’s kind and I couldn’t imagine my life without him”

Bokuto’s eyes were bright with unshed tears, “Kaashi…”

The crowd let out a slightly sad ‘aww’ sound at the sight of the two.

Nekomata looked sad again, Oikawa noted, as he said, “That is very noble”  
The buzzer sounded and Nekomata got up to shake their hands as he said, “Our hearts go out to both you.”

Nekomata turned to the audience as he stood between them, holding up one of their arms in each hand so they were in a triumphant pose. “Ladies and Gentlemen, Keiji Akaashi and Kotaro Bokuto”

The crowd screamed louder than ever as the two walked off-stage, hand in hand.

Oikawa watched as they re-appeared backstage and walked to a secluded corner, not looking at anyone, and speaking in hushed tones. He watched them for a moment before realising that he was now at the front of the line. Terushima and Misaki were walking onstage together. They painted a rather pretty picture together. He was clearly a punk and pretty rowdy, but she was really kind and seemed like a sweetheart.

He didn’t pay much attention to their interview; he had already judged enough of their personalities for now, but he vaguely noted that Terushima listed his rather varied and unconventional skillset and Misaki apologized for her rowdy partner.

It was clear the Capitol was falling for the pair that complimented each other perfectly.

Suddenly Oikawa heard the buzzer and, in a moment, the two tributes of district 3 were walking past them, Terushima with a large grin and eyes gleaming with a deadly nature.

_Watch out for him._

Oikawa was drawn out of thought when Iwaizumi looked at him. Oh. Right.

He walked forward, pulling his boyfriend with him. They emerged onto the stage. Light blinded Oikawa for a moment before his eyes adjusted. Suddenly he could see the crowd, all in horribly hideous outfits of all shapes and colours.

He gave a wide, blinding smile to the crowd and waved with a charismatic wink.

They cheered, seeing his and Iwaizumi’s intertwined fingers.  
“Kiss!” They chanted.

Oikawa tugged Iwaizumi to him and slid their lips together.

_Give them what they want.  
Make them love you._

As if sensing his dislike for the forced nature of the situation Iwaizumi pulled back and gave him a small smile, one reserved only for him. He smiled back, genuinely this time.

Nekomata chuckled as they sat down. “Why hello lovebirds.”

Iwaizumi forced a blush and schooled his face into modesty. They had talked to last night, they both agreed that they had to get sponsors to survive. They had to make the Capitol love them.

“Hello Nekomata” Oikawa said, acting the part of a self-assured teen while Iwaizumi played an embarrassed boyfriend. It annoyed him to no end that Iwaizumi was going to act like he was helpless, but it was the best chance they had at the moment.

“I’m sure I speak for everyone when I say, we have been on the edge of our seats all night, waiting for this interview.”

“So have we” Oikawa replied with a smile.

The crowd laughed.

 _It wasn’t even funny. But I guess they are starved for entertainment here. Must be why they get kids to fight to the death_ Oikawa thought bitterly.

“How long have you two known each other?”

“I cannot remember a time without my Iwa-chan”

Nekomata raised an eyebrow at the nickname and the use of ‘my’ while the crowd cooed.

_Good. They like both of you. Keep it going._

Iwaizumi reached across the gap between their chairs and slid their fingers together with a soft smile.

The crowd made a collective ‘aww’ sound.

_Keep pushing, get more of a reaction._

“So, how did you feel at the reaping, and how do you feel that your both going into the games and only one person can walk out”

Iwaizumi took point answering this one. “I felt heartbroken. It was like my world was ending”

Their audience was evidently pleased with this as they all cried out in answer and Oikawa heard some harsh sobbing.

_It’s like they don’t feel actual emotion. Anything they say or do is fake._

_But it’s still a reaction._

“And about the games,” Oikawa started, “Till the reaping I had always wanted to be in the games and to win. But if Iwa-chan is here” he glanced sideways at his boyfriend “then I guess I’ll have to die. I’d do anything to protect him”

Iwaizumi’s grip on his hand tightened. He could tell that part wasn’t an act.

“I’d do anything for this idiot too.”

The crowd went crazy and the sound was deafening.

Oikawa slid off his seat and scooted onto Iwaizumi’s. They were pressed together but he didn’t mind. He kissed his boyfriend’s cheek and said “I love you”  
“Love you too”

Suddenly it was like the rest of the interview had been child’s play as the Capitol was thrown into a frenzy just as the sound of the buzzer sounded, just barely noticeable over the noise.

They stood up, hands still linked, and began to walk off stage. Cheers followed them.

It annoyed Oikawa to no end, that this is what they had to do to try and survive. That they had to expose their relationship for all to see and poke and prod at. It irritated him that they had to put on a front like this.

But, he mused as Iwaizumi kissed his cheek before they disappeared behind stage, it wasn’t all bad.

~*~

Kenma watched all of the interviews with a raised eyebrow and a fair amount of scepticism. All of the tributes were overstating some part of their personality or persona and showing it off.

Inuoka was the cheerful boy next door.

Akaashi and Bokuto were the dynamic duo (and Kenma suspected they were more than just friends.)

Terushima was the cutthroat career.

Misaki was the sweetheart you want to be your best friend.

Oikawa was the cocky pretty-boy and Iwaizumi was his doting boyfriend, though Kenma could tell that their relationship wasn’t actually like that. He suspected Iwaizumi was the one in control and was the only person who could keep the other in check.

As the pair appeared and walked past him and Inuoka Kenma and Oikawa locked eyes for a moment. Kenma could recognize a predator when he saw one, he had been in district 1 after all, and the tall teen before him was most certainly one. He couldn’t figure out though, why Oikawa was watching him like he was a predator as well.

His lip curled into a frown as Oikawa’s eyes bore into him.

_What is he looking for?_

The moment was broken as Yamamoto patted his on the back saying, “Wish me luck” and Iwaizumi tugged Oikawa away from him.

Kenma tried to focus on Yamamoto’s interview, he really did, but he was busy wondering about Oikawa. Did he expect something from him?

He was drawn out of those thoughts by the laughter coming through the screens and distantly from the stage and then the buzzer that suddenly sounded more like a doomsday signal.

His over-excitable partner came around a corner, his cheeks flushed with laughter. “Good luck!” Yamamoto said on his way past him.

Kenma walked forward. He turned the corner and walked onto the stage. Light filled his vision and he was disoriented for a moment. It took his eyes a moment to adjust but he kind of wished they hadn’t. Suddenly he could see all the piercing gazes and judgemental stares. He was pretty good at understanding people. He could decipher them, like a game, but he never understood the people of the Capitol. They were an unsolvable mystery. Why did they laugh at the people who were in unfortunate situations? Why did they act like they were better? Why did they think they _were_ better?

Why bet on the death of kids?  
Why falsely cry if something tragic happened?  
Why re-enact those tragedies for ‘amusement’ and ‘entertainment’?

Why did they do anything? Kenma just didn’t understand it.

He walked forward, his shoulders hunching up and his posture becoming more tense. He came to a stop and sat down. He didn’t bother smiling at the crowd. _I’m tired and it hasn’t even started yet._

“So, Kenma, all of us were bewitched by your stunning entrance at the parade” a voice distantly said.

People cheered in agreement and Kenma tuned them out. He was pretty sure that Yamamoto’s interview had started in a similar way.

“I guess”

Nekomata wasn’t perturbed by the response and instead focused on another topic.

“I think we all felt it when you volunteered for that kid in district 5.”

Kenma felt irritation flare. ‘That kid in district 5’

“Shoyo. His name is Shoyo” Kenma said lowly. His voice taking on an air of annoyance.

Nekomata looked a bit startled and the crowd became quiet.

“Ok… Shoyo… I assume you knew him well?”

“Not particularly”

That garnered a reaction.

“But… why would you volunteer for someone you don’t know?”

Kenma raised a judging eyebrow. “He’s a good person. It’s simple. He had people that cared about him and he does his best to make everyone around him happy”

There was absolute silence. You could have heard a pin drop or taken a knife to the palpable tension in the air.

“So… you did it because you thought that it was better he be safe and sound in district 5 than you?”

“Yes.”

“Don’t you have anybody waiting for you at home?”

“No.”

“So you’ve resigned yourself to dying in the games?”

Kenma was properly annoyed now. What was the point of it all?  
“What games?”

“Um…” Nekomata looked at him in pure dumbfounded shock. “the hunger ga- “

“Yeah no, I get that. But what _games._ What part of this is a game? Everyone who has been on this stage and will be on this stage will die. Even your supposed ‘victor’ will be practically wishing they hadn’t survived by the time this is all over.” Kenma scowled and glared out at the crowd. “Everyone here is a _person_ not some toy for entertainment. All of us will die, and you’ll what? Laugh, hand over some money to the person who won the bet on our lives, maybe cry. What is the point? WHAT. IS. THE. POINT.” Kenma started to shout towards the end, his temper reaching its end.

He stood up, gave a sarcastic and mocking bow, before saying,

“We aren’t just tributes.”

Then he walked off the stage.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you enjoyed this chapter please leave comments and kudos!  
> This chapter was super fun to write and I hope you liked it.
> 
> Have a day y'all!


	7. The mic was dropped and it's suing

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The aftermath of Kenma's interview.
> 
> (Hint: It isn't good)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this chapter took a while, life got in the way a bit. Regardless, please enjoy <3

_“Everyone here is a person not some toy for entertainment. All of us will die, and you’ll what? Laugh, hand over some money to the person who won the bet on our lives, maybe cry. What is the point? WHAT. IS. THE. POINT.” Kenma started to shout towards the end, his temper reaching its end._

_He stood up, gave a sarcastic and mocking bow, before saying,_

_“We aren’t just tributes.”_

_Then he walked off the stage._

Kenma turned the corner, letting the sounds of chaos wash over him. He didn’t look at anyone, but he could feel their stares burning into him. Strangely, he didn’t mind these ones. He felt proud.

He heard shouting from the stage, but nobody dared to speak to him directly. Nekomata was trying to calm the screeching crowd. Kenma could hear the sound of a short buzzer, just barely noticeable over the noise.

A smirk curled across his face.

That had gone well.

Waiting in a more secluded part of the room was his teammate.   
“Kenma you just- “

“Oh my goodness Kenma, you just painted a target on your back! The Capitol will not be happy!” Takeda interrupted Yamamoto with an intense gaze and hands shaking with worry.

Ukai followed him in and didn’t say anything until Takeda hissed “tell him!”

The district 5 mentor just looked Kenma dead in the eye and gave him a thumbs up. Takeda huffed and bristled like an offended cat before Ukai grabbed his wrists and said softly “don’t worry. They can’t get rid of him without it being suspicious, and besides.” Ukai turned to glance at Kenma.

“He’s made himself unforgettable”

~*~

“What do we do? We can’t just let him live. His words could spark a rebellion!” The voice was panicked and frantic “What if the districts rise up, or, heaven forbid, the Capitol starts questioning things.”

“We cannot kill him.”

“But President- “

“Pure power will always win, and we are the most powerful.”

“Um…”

“You are a game master are you not? There could simply be a… tragic accident, involving a lack of water, or perhaps a wild animal, maybe even a tribute ‘stumbles’ upon his location. We don’t need to expose ourselves to criticism and danger when we have the games. This is what they were made for. To squash rebellion.

“Yes President Washijo”

~*~

Kuroo was reeling. It was a pretty common occurrence these days.

All of the interviews had been impactful. He really felt for Akaashi and Bokuto and he wanted to help Oikawa and Iwaizumi. Terushima and Misaki gave strong impressions and established their solo images rather than pairing with someone.

But again,

It all went to hell with district 5.

Yamamoto’s interview was normal and funny. In another situation he would probably become friends with the excitable teen.

Then Kenma happened.

Good grief did Kenma happen.

It had started out as Kuroo expected. Kenma was pretty quiet and didn’t give a straight answer. Then Kuroo noticed his growing irritation. Kenma was clearly getting annoyed as his answers became shorter, more direct, and edged with a rising fury.

Then Nekomata asked if he planned to die in the games.

Kuroo bristled and nearly growled. _No. Kenma would not die._

“What games?”

Kuroo startled. That was not a good sign. Kenma was going to start something.

“Um… the hunger games”

“Yeah no. I get that”

Kuroo winced, this wasn’t going to be good.

He listened and focused on the screen; all of the tributes did at his sharp words. He listened to the rant and Kenma’s voice raising in volume. He saw Kenma’s mocking bow and then the way he walked off-stage.

The pudding-haired teen appeared a moment later, he didn’t look anyone in the eye and ignored all of them, instead heading immediately to his teammate. Kuroo wanted to walk to him, to speak with his best friend, but he just couldn’t. He was frozen in place. He could do it, a few steps forward and he would be there. Face-to-face with Kenma. No, now wasn’t the time for that. Kenma was evidently irritated and it would do both of them no good to be mad during the inevitably emotional affair that would come of a reunion.

So, Kuroo sat down and watched the other interviews. Or at least, he tried to. He didn’t focus completely on them, instead lost in thought. Eventually he was awoken (when had he fallen asleep?) when Inuoka shook his shoulder.

“come on Kuroo, we’re going back to the apartment and getting some sleep. Training starts tomorrow”

Kuroo nodded, instantly alert at the mention of training.

“Ok. Let’s go”

Later, when lying on his bed, eyes wide open and his mind turning relentlessly did he wonder,

What if Kenma hates him? What if he regrets saving him? What if he just avoids him?

_Then you deal with it and keep subtly protecting him, so he survives. To return the favour._

The last coherent thought he remembers is wondering if Kenma still eats apple pie like it’s the end of the world.

Wouldn’t it be nice to pretend nothing has changed?

With that he fell into a dreamless sleep.

~*~

Kuroo hesitantly opened one eye. The light was annoying, as always. He opened the other eye with a lot of effort and waited a second for his eyes to adjust. That ceiling wasn’t the same. This wasn’t his ro- oh. It was. This was his room now.

He heaved a sigh and pulled himself out of the almost annoyingly smooth sheets and stumbles to the decadent dresser. He scowled at all of the bright clothing. He rummaged through the top drawer before giving up and moving to the bottom one. He luckily managed to find a black t-shirt, a blood-red sweater that actually looked quite nice, and a pair of black jeans.

After looking in the mirror (was that actual diamonds embedded into the edges or was he crazy?) he deemed himself presentable. His bedhead was perfect, as always.

He walked out of the room and saw nobody about. Perfect. He would have some time to himself. He took a deep breath and sat down at the empty table. There was a large selection of food out despite him seeming to be the only one up.

He didn’t pay attention to what he ate, nor to the taste, he just recognized that they were healthy and would prevent him from getting hungry too early on in training- Right. Training. That started today.

He sighed again. Then frowned heavily. It was fine. He was used to putting up a happy and cocky mask up in front of people. It was fine.

_But Kenma is here now. He can always tell._

Kuroo reluctantly acknowledged the truth to that thought. Kenma would likely be able to tell. Maybe he could just avoid him today.

_But you don’t want that. You want to see him again._

He wished his brain would shut up. He really, truly did.

Kuroo lay his head in his hands until a voice startled him.  
“mind if I join you?”

Yes. Very much.

“Not at all”

Inuoka beamed at him and Kuroo felt his mood lift a bit. He would admit that the teen was a comforting presence.

They idly chatted until about half an hour later, when the bubbly escort made her way in. (He really couldn’t remember her name for the life of him. It just seemed so irrelevant)

“Are both of you ready for training?” She asked cheerfully.

No. He’s never ready for more proof of his impending doom.

“Of course” he says with a smirk.

Her bizarre blue eyes became brighter as she said “Good, because you have 5 minutes to change into the provided training outfits before you head down.”

“Oh goody” he muttered under his breath.

“What’s that?”

“Nothing”

~*~

Kuroo laughed at the sight of Inuoka trying (and failing) to throw a spear correctly. He showed him the proper form before saying he’d be at the obstacle course. As he walked through the gym he watched the others in the room. Oikawa was using throwing knifes with a proficiency that scared him while Iwaizumi was shooting a bow with deadly accuracy. 

_That’ll be trouble._

Bokuto and Akaashi were split up. The more sensible of the two was memorising which plants and berries were safe to eat while Bokuto messed around with all of the weapons. He could use each one well, he noted.

Kuroo laughed at the sight of Terushima using large weights while Misaki just shook her head next to him. 

In the chaotic din of the room Kuroo didn’t hear the ‘ding’ of one of the district elevators or the soft tapping of feet on the concrete floor so he was absolutely shocked when he turned around and was brought face to face with one Kozume Kenma.

_So much for avoiding him._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you enjoyed! This chapter was pretty fun to write and if you liked leave comments and kudos, they really make my day. Have a good week y'all <3


	8. The ghost of your past came to haunt you

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A long awaited reunion and the discovery of a new talent

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry I've been gone for a while! Life has been hectic at the moment and unfortunately is just going to get more hectic but I'll try to update a bit more. Anyway, enjoy the chapter <33

_In the chaotic din of the room Kuroo didn’t hear the ‘ding’ of one of the district elevators or the soft tapping of feet on the concrete floor so he was absolutely shocked when he turned around and was brought face to face with one Kenma Kozume._

_So much for avoiding him._

~*~

It was like the world stopped for just a moment. Suddenly Kenma could see the woods again, running faster than he had ever before. He could feel the wind whipping around him in Kuroo’s red jacket. He could hear the pounding of peacekeeper footsteps rapidly approaching. He could sense Kuroo’s fear for him. He remembered wishing he could have said goodbye.

Kenma stared at his best friend for that single heartbeat before leaping at him. Kuroo caught him, like he was waiting for him. (Kuroo knew him the best, even now) His hands wound around Kuroo’s neck and his face found his shoulder. His legs were wrapped around Kuroo’s waist. Kenma bet he looked like a koala. Kuroo’s arms immediately wrapped tight around him and pulled him closer.

“Kuro” he breathed, using the long-forgotten nickname.

“Hi Kenma” he whispered back.

Kenma pulled back from the warm hug just a fraction to see the tears in Kuroo’s eyes and to notice the ones streaming down his own cheeks.

“Kenma oh my god, I thought you were dead”

“I’m not” he said softly “I’m here”

The tears that had clearly been threatening to spill started to slip out and Kenma hiccuped a laugh at his friend trying to blink them away.

They continued to just hug in silence before noticing just that, the silence. Everyone in the room was watching them with varying degrees of confusion, curiosity, disgust, horror and hesitancy.

Their respective teammates tried to pull them away from each other, evidently concerned with this new development, but Kenma _hissed_ at Inuoka and Kuroo growled threateningly at Yamamoto. The two shared identical glances of confusion but let them be.

Oikawa though, didn’t quite seem to get the memo.

“What’s this? Tetsuro Kuroo from district 1 seems to know the ranting riot-starter from district 5?”

Kenma gave the district 4 tribute what he knew was a death glare. Oikawa didn’t shrink back at the pure promise of murder in his eyes but stayed silent.

He carefully detached himself from Kuroo, the other holding onto him tighter, as if afraid to let him go again. Kenma walked a few steps to Oikawa and tilted his head, keeping his face carefully neutral.

The short teen could sense everyone in the room growing uncomfortable, seeming to remember his harsh and unhesitant words at the interviews. _They are worried I’m going to lash out again._

He felt a hand on the small of his back and a voice in his ear.

“Come on Kenma, it isn’t worth it. Not yet”

Kenma decided that, for just a moment, that he would pretend they were still in district 1 and not in the hunger games.

He scoffed. “I wasn’t going to do anything, too much effort”

Kuroo raised an eyebrow but carefully guided him to the obstacle course, his arm changing position to be around Kenma’s waist while Kenma leaned on him.

They were both quiet for a moment before they said at the exact same moment,

“Hey, about that day…”

“Um so… regarding… everything”

They both startled before Kuroo quietly suggested,

“can we just… pretend for now? Like it’s normal again”

“Yeah…” Kenma agreed. “I like that idea…”

~*~

Oikawa was _confused._ What the hell had just happened?

Kuroo from district 1, one of the _careers_ , and Kenma Kozume from district 5, the one person he couldn’t read, had just leapt at each other and hugged like their lives depending on it.

What?

This wasn’t right. It shouldn’t have been possible. There was literally _no conceivable way_ that they could have ever met before. But they had.

How? When? Why?

And what did it mean for him and Iwaizumi in the games?

He scowled at the pair on the other side of the room. Kozume was contentedly sitting at the edge of the obstacle course, watching Kuroo swing through it. He was pretty sure he heard Kozume criticizing him.

_Who the hell is this kid?_

He volunteers, he takes the spotlight in the parade, has that mess of an interview, apparently is best friends with a career tribute from _district 1,_ and is now critiquing said career tribute.

What the actual hell?

No seriously, what the hell?

Wait, what where they doing now?

Oikawa watched as the odd duo headed over to the weapons section. He sighed and just walked over to the tridents to practice with them.

_Forget them for now. They are irrelevant_

If only he realized how incorrect that would turn out to be.

~*~

Kenma snorted as Kuroo fell off the course again.

“I told you, you need to change your grip right there otherwise you fall of. Brute strength can’t save you”

Kuroo’s eyes lit up. “Your right.”

“Of course I am”

“No, I mean. Brute strength won’t save us. I can use all of the weapons here because of training but you… transferred… before we started really training in the academy.”

Kenma nearly cringed at the blatant attempt to adhere to their agreement earlier. _Just pretend everything is normal right?_

“Where are you going with this…?” Kenma asked.

“I can teach you!” Kuroo said enthusiastically.

“Teach me?”

“Come on!” Kuroo latched onto his hand and dragged him over to the weapons section.

“I didn’t agree to this” he said, realising what Kuroo was doing.

“Too bad” the giant teen said with a smirk.

“Ugh” Kenma huffed but couldn’t help the tiny smile tugging at his lips from being with his friend again.

“Hmm” Kuroo’s eyes wandered around the array of blades and weights, “Oh! I know” and pulled him along.

And that is the story of how Kenma found himself with two throwing knives, one in each hand, in front of a human-shaped target and Kuroo grinning wickedly beside him.

“Ok so you need to keep your arms like this”

Kenma glared at the unspecific instructions, Kuroo chuckled and came behind him. His arms slid along the length of Kenma’s and his hands gripped Kenma’s wrists. Kenma would be lying if he said he didn’t feel safer with Kuroo’s arms around him.

“Like this”

Kuroo carefully moved Kenma’s hands in a fluid motion that he knew would be powerful if he were to release the blades.

The other teen took a step back and demonstrated again. Kenma watched the movements carefully and angled his body to look similar.

“Ok! Try throwing it now. And don’t worry, nobody is expected to get it first try”

Kenma felt a little spiteful and decided to put in some effort, just to try prove Kuroo wrong.

He took a step forward, positioned his body, pulled his right arm back, readied his left to be thrown a moment later, took a look at the target, re-positioned his arm to aim it correctly, took a deep breath, exhaled.

And released.

A moment later, the two knives were embedded into the centre of the head and the heart.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I really hope you enjoyed this chapter! A lot had to happen this chapter so I hope it didn't feel too rushed. Please leave comments and kudos if you enjoyed, they really do make my day. The next chapter will probably be up on Wednesday. See y'all in a few days <3


	9. Karma says you've got the job

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Idk man, stuff happens

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> sorry this chapter took a while but I hope you enjoy it!

_Kenma felt a little spiteful and decided to put in some effort, just to try prove Kuroo wrong._

_He took a step forward, positioned his body, pulled his right arm back, readied his left to be thrown a moment later, took a look at the target, repositioned his arm to aim it correctly, took a deep breath, exhaled._

_And released._

_A moment later, the two knifes were embedded into the centre of the head and the heart._

~*~

It was day two of training and Kenma was not happy. It was just one of those days. He didn’t know why, yesterday was eventful but now he was reunited with his best friend and had discovered his apparent talent with knives. It gave him a weird sense of satisfaction to let the blades hurtle across the room and into the target, in exactly the place he had sent them. (If nothing else it was worth it for the pure astonishment on Kuroo’s face. The day before when he had hit the target perfectly Kuroo had gaped like a fish. It was pretty funny.)

Ukai and Takeda had pretty much let them handle their training. They offered advice but after they each mentioned that they were training with a tribute from district 1 they trusted that they were in good hands.

Kenma smiled fondly at the memory of Takeda trying to reign in his shock when he and Yamamoto had said that they had spent the day training with Inuoka and Kuroo and the blatant way Ukai couldn’t stop the way his jaw dropped.

Despite all of the good things though he couldn’t help but be in a bad mood. He just… didn’t feel like it today.

“I’ll see you later Kenma!” his partner said as they walked into the training area. Kenma watched as he headed over to Inuoka. The two had become friends after their respective partners had ditched them the day before. They were both excitable and cheerful and their personalities fit together quite well.

“Ok, see you I guess”

“Good morning Kenma!” Kuroo chirped as Kenma crossed the room to him.

“No morning is a good morning” he muttered, slinking over to Kuroo and slumping against his side.

His friend smirked and picked Kenma up (was he really that light?) before walking to a side room that acted as a cafeteria before sitting down and placing Kenma beside him.

“Why are you tired Kenma? It’s not even midday yet.” Kuroo asked.

“Just… not in the mood today”

Kuroo understood immediately, Kenma had bad days, where he just _couldn’t_ deal with people.

“Ok Kenma, we can just sit here for a bit alright?”

Kenma smiled softly “Thanks Kuro”

His friend smiled down at him “No problem.”

~*~

Several years ago, in district 1 when it was Kuroo’s first reaping.

“Kuroo what if you- “

“I won’t” Kuroo said to him. “I won’t leave, I promise”

Kenma held out his pinkie finger. “Pinkie promise?”

The taller teen smiled at him and interlocked their fingers. “Pinkie promise. I won’t leave.”

The blonde hesitantly released his friends hand and instead latched onto him in a tight hug. “I trust you”

Kuroo’s arms wrapped around him “I trust you too”

Kenma reluctantly let go and let his friend get to the proper area while he did the same.

He could barely see in the sea of people taller than him, but he knew that the escort for district 1 came on stage when the whole crowd went deadly silent.

Kenma didn’t hear the name that was called, he only felt a crushing sense of relief.

_Kuroo wasn’t chosen. He’s still here. He didn’t leave._

A short brown-haired girl, probably only 12 walked forward. She stalked forward confidently, just like they were taught to. No sign of fear was visible except for her eyes. There was a terror in the hazel depths that no amount of training could disguise.

Kenma’s gut twisted unpleasantly.

 _How could he feel glad? How could he feel_ happy _right now? This girl was going to die, and he was_ relieved?

Guilt weighed on his mind for the next several minutes as he walked away from the town square. Barely paying attention to the peacekeepers ushering everyone out of the streets, just following the crowd.

_Is this really the type of person he was? Only caring about a few people and ignoring the fates of the rest? Was he a bad person?_

“Kenma!” Kuroo’s voice broke through the haze and he couldn’t help the tiny smile that came onto his face.

“Hi Kuroo” he replied softly.

A distraught cry erupted from the square behind them, slightly muffled but still clearly audible.

Kuroo flinched and grabbed Kenma’s hand, leading him into the town, farther from the peacekeepers and pain behind them. “Let’s go Kenma”

Kenma frowned as he realized he didn’t mind being a bad person if he had his best friend with him. They kept each other grounded and that was enough for him.

“Ok Kuro”

~*~

Present

“Kuro…” Kenma asked slowly, “am I a bad person?”

The dark-haired teen gave him an alarmed frown that quickly turned sad. “I… I don’t believe there is such a thing as ‘good people’ but Kenma,” Kuroo looked him directly in the eyes and didn’t break his stare. “You are not a bad person”

Kenma could feel the sincerity in his gaze and words so he nodded “Ok.”

Yelling from the training room echoed into the cafeteria, reminding Kenma where they were.

He suddenly realized how long they had been sitting on the bench. “We should go back.” He said, getting up from his seat.

“Alright” Kuroo got up as well and walked shoulder-to-shoulder with him as they re-entered the training area.

A couple of the tributes were glowering at each other while one of the mentors stood between them, scowling.

_So that’s what the yelling was…_

He sighed and grabbed Kuroo’s hand, pulling him away from all the people, instead heading towards the selection of throwing knives.

Kenma released his friend’s hand and walked up to the rack of knives.

He heard Kuroo chuckle behind him as he picked out blades of varying sizes, strength and sharpness, attaching all of them to the belt at his hip.

“Careful there kitten” he heard a voice say “you can hurt yourself with sharp things”

Kenma turned slowly to see Terushima watching him with an amused grin.

Kuroo bristled, “You ba- “

“Don’t” He said, cutting Kuroo off with a glare.

He ignored the tribute from district 3 until a new, deeper voice chimed in.

“I agree with Terushima. Kozume lacks enough power to be truly deadly.”

Who the hell was that? Kenma glanced to his left to see a large teen with olive-brown hair and olive eyes. Kenma suddenly realised that he hadn’t really paid attention to any of the other districts. _An error in judgement._

”Hi! I’m Satori Tendou and this is Wakatoshi Ushijima. We are from district 11!” another new voice chimed in.

Kenma watched the other new tribute who was now sitting on the bench that a few moments previous had held blades, kicking his legs in an almost child-like manner. He had wild red hair and dark red irises that eyed him in turn. _I don’t like him… He’s creepy._

“But yeah I agree with Ushijima, this little pudding won’t be able to do anything”

“So you think” Kenma hissed under his breath, and also, ‘little pudding’? what the hell was that nickname?

Thankfully nobody heard him and instead listened to Oikawa, who apparently felt the need to join in.

“He’s not dumb but has nothing else to back it up”

Kenma scowled at the various people around the room. How _dare_ they? What gave them the right? He reminded himself that speaking back would take energy, and he really wasn’t bothered to do that at the moment.

“Kuro, I’m going to go do some training on my own for a bit” he said before his temper could rise further. Considering what happened last time he lost his cool.

Kuroo watched him carefully “alright...”

Kenma stalked to one of the separate rooms muttering a series of very vulgar curses that had Kuroo shocked and Terushima saying,

“Oh~ Kitty got some spunk”

Kenma went into the secluded room and took a breath, grateful for the silence. People were so exhausting, and he felt like everyone was watching him and, considering recent events, they probably were. 

He slid the door closed behind him and started throwing the knifes. He adjusted to the difference in weights and changed the amount of power behind each toss as an experiment. He discovered ways to pick up the knifes quicker, to throw faster and to move more fluidly.

Kenma didn’t know how long he practiced with the blades before he heard a knock on the door. It wasn’t Kuroo, that was for sure. When the taller teen knocked it was loud and way to chaotic to be considered a normal knock. This, on the contrary, was short and precise. He hesitated for a second. He didn’t particularly want to deal with people but what was the harm?

He quickly took all of the knifes off the board and slid them into his belt before coming to answer the door, he wanted to keep the advantage of being underestimated. As he opened it he realised he knew which tribute it was. Akaashi stood before him with tired eyes and a few knifes in hand.

“Do you mind if I practice in here with you? All the other rooms are taken up and you seem like a decent person that isn’t ridiculously loud and chaotic.”

Kenma looked at the raven-haired teen standing across from him considering. From the interview he could tell Akaashi was a decent person, he seemed genuine enough and judging by his words wanted some peace and quiet, meaning little to no actual interaction required. _Score._

“Sure, why not”

Akaashi didn’t reply, just gave him a small smile as he walked in and set up a couple of targets for himself.

Kenma realised the problem the moment he slid the door closed and began to grab his knifes. _Did he want to keep the advantage of surprise?_

The other teen must have read his mind because he said “don’t bother holding back. You’ll learn the extent of my abilities too.”

That… seemed fair enough. Kenma nodded and began to throw the blades again. It became apparent that Akaashi wasn’t as consistently accurate, but he was deadly in his own right. They stayed silent until Akaashi hesitantly asked,

“Hey, could you held me improve my stance. I don’t really like anyone else here apart from Bokuto and he isn’t great for advice.”

Kenma replied dryly, “don’t like me? I’m hurt”

Akaashi smirked at him and said

“Actually, I think we’ll get along fine”

~*~

Akaashi was curious about the teen next to him. The blond-and-black hair was different from something you’d normally see, and his golden eyes were striking, but that isn’t what was interesting about him. He seemed to be always thinking and analysing. It was a bit disconcerting at first but now Akaashi was kind of grateful, he had helped Akaashi improve his stance, and thus, accuracy. His interview had certainly been something out of the ordinary, but he was glad someone had said it. Then there was his apparent friendship with the district 1 tribute, Tetsuro Kuroo, if he was not mistaken. It was strange, to see the two people that looked like polar opposites embracing like it was the end of the world and the other was a lifeline, but he supposed it wasn’t his business to interfere or ask.

Kenma’s humour was dry and biting and Akaashi found himself chuckling. He was essentially the complete opposite of Bokuto. Quiet, introverted and calculating rather than Bokuto’s loud, obnoxious presence.

Basically, he enjoyed the others company.

Truly, it was a shame that they were in the hunger games. He was pretty sure they would have become friends in another life but for now they settled on being friendly acquaintances.

At least, they had until leaving their little bubble of solitude.

Across the room were their respective friends, chatting away like they had known each other forever.

He and Kenma shared a look of identical concern and fear.

“Who let them get within five feet of each other?” Kenma muttered.

“No idea but it won’t be good for us”

The two walked to Kuroo and Bokuto who were grinning like madmen and upon seeing them shouted,

“Kenma!”

“Kaashi!”

Kenma spoke with all the sarcasm Akaashi had come to expect, “who let this unholy alliance exist?”

Bokuto gaped, Akaashi hid a smile behind his hand and Kuroo said,

“Fate itself my dear, for you see- “

“Kuro stop waxing poetry”

“no,” the taller tribute pouted. “for upon this blessed day you abandoned me for your cave of solitude, leaving me alone and bored until my bro-est of bro’s joined me. We are now an invincible team and you cannot stop us.”

“Oh sweet lord” Akaashi muttered under his breath.

“And it seems you made a friend too Kaashi!” Bokuto said enthusiastically. “Nice to meet you” he said, sticking his hand out. “I’m Kotaro Bokuto”

Kenma wrinkled his nose before hesitantly shaking the hand connected to the ball of energy.

Akaashi just cordially nodded at Kuroo and said “Nice to meet you as well”

Bokuto gasped and said “Bro, does this mean we are all best friends now?”

“It most certainly does bro”

“Hell yeah bro”

“Please for the love of God stop saying ‘bro’” Akaashi said, holding a hand to his temple, as though that could stop his growing headache.

Kenma’s lips quirked up and the two new best friends gasped and clutched their chests.

“Betrayal Kaashi, I can’t believe you.”

He smiled at his friends antics before turning to Kuroo with his abominable bedhead.

“Akaashi, I thought we were becoming friends. Kenma, you won’t stand for this right?” Kuroo turned his gaze imploringly to the short teen.

“Oh no, I totally agree with Akaashi” Kenma said with a small grin in his direction that he returned.

“Shot to the heart Kenma, truly”

Akaashi was more than happy to let the day pass with the other three teens. Bokuto and Kuroo kept bantering back and forth while he and Kenma shared long-suffering looks.

Eventually when it was time to go back to their respective apartments for the day the ‘invincible team’ hugged and exchanged tearful goodbyes as if they were going to war instead of seeing each other the next day.

Akaashi just said “Goodnight Kenma”

“Night”

As the two were walking away to their respective elevators Bokuto said “wasn’t that fun? It was totally fun right Akaashi?”

“It… wasn’t the worst.”

“Yeah!” Bokuto celebrated and Akaashi felt the need to be just a little bit evil and say,

“Kenma is great company”

Bokuto stopped his ridiculous ‘victory dance’ and gave him an imploring look.   
“Come on Kaashi, you know you enjoyed all of our company, not just Kenma’s”

He glared at Bokuto for a moment before relenting,  
“Yeah, it was fun”

The owl-haired teen whooped and strung an arm around his shoulder as they walked out of the elevator and to the waiting dinner on the table.

It was only later, when in his bed under all of the decadent sheets and duvet that he truly let himself wonder if maybe, just maybe, the hunger games didn’t prevent him from making a few friends.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Leave comments and kudos if you enjoyed, they really make my day. Have a good day y'all <3


	10. Society said you told it to rot in hell

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A few more tributes are introduced, Kenma is sassy, and Kuroo has a realization that changes everything.
> 
> All in all a successful day

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Y'all are gonna hate me for who is in this chapter ;-;
> 
> Anywho, enjoy!

Daichi Sawamura was a pretty simple person of pretty simple pleasures despite being from district 8 and under its tight rule. He took pleasure in seeing the sun rise and set, he took pleasure in routine and he most certainly took pleasure in the presence of his boyfriend Koushi Sugawara.

The reaping had been a shock. To have ones name drawn was a just death sentence, to have a lovers name drawn as well was hell to go along with that promise of brutal murder.

And oh how hellish this whole thing had been.

The train felt both torturously slow and far too quick. The people of the Capitol gaped and gawked at the pair as they passed. Their parade outfits made Daichi feel like a clown. Those interviews had been a train wreck, Daichi and Suga deciding to pretend like they weren’t in relationship and having to act friendly and cordial to the host and crowd.

Then there was the mess of training.

The careers were showy and for that first day they took over everything, leaving everyone else to just ignore them. Except of course, for the tribute from district 1.

Tetsuro Kuroo and Kenma Kozume. What the hell was up there? Daichi had no clue and quite frankly he didn’t care, it was none of his business.

Basically the first few days had him a bit pissed off, thankfully though the second day had been a bit better as he and Suga walked around and tested what they were good at and laughing at each other’s failures. Eventually they discovered Daichi’s affinity to the crossbow and Suga’s surprisingly strong punch when using brass knuckles.

It was now the third day of training and Daichi pulled himself out of bed, eternally grateful that he was a morning person. He shoved on the training outfit and went out for breakfast. He ate quietly until the District 8 escort, a rather young girl, still about his age, walked in. Her hair was pink with silver strands running through it and her dress was pale pink and had a short skirt that erupted from the bodice, ending just after her knees. There were silver swirling embroidered patterns along the sleeves that curled down over her shoulder.

“Good morning Daichi” she said cheerfully.

“Morning Michimiya”

He had become fast friends with the escort since she was a similar age and was nowhere near as jaded as the other escorts he had seen. Her smile was wide and Daichi was sure that they would have been close in another life.

“Where’s Suga?”

“I suspect he’s still in bed” Daichi said with a smirk, knowing his boyfriend hated early mornings.

“Could you go wake him up please?”

Daichi got up from his seat with a growing grin. This could be a fun way to start the day. He walked to Suga’s door and carefully pried it open.

“Come on babe, you’ve got to get up. Michimiya wants to talk to us”

Daichi was pretty sure he heard Suga mutter something along the lines of “tell Michimiya to screw off”

“No can do sorry” He said, sympathizing a bit with his boyfriend, who was carefully tucked into a nest of blankets. “I will bring in a cup of coffee alright. Try be out of the bed before then”

“Mmmm, thank you” Suga said softly, his voice still thick as he shook off sleep.

Daichi smiled at the pile of blankets and left to get the aforementioned cup of coffee. He walked out to see Michimiya fiddling with a small ornament and her eyes sad.

“Michimiya? You ok?”

She startled and looked up at him, forcing a smile onto her face. “Of course, I just… this is the first time I’m going to be an escort. Takeda from district 5 is really nice and has been helping me but… he said that once tributes are in the game you have no control and you can’t really help them besides getting sponsors.” She locked eyes with him, her eyes filling with tears. “I don’t want you and Suga to die”

Daichi walked over to her and hugged her, “we can’t both win, but we’ll try. Don’t breakdown.” He smiled at her with a lot more confidence than he felt, “we still need our escort”

She returned his smile through her tears. “Ok”

Daichi released her from the hug and went to get Suga’s coffee. “He is always grumpy in the morning but then- “

“Good morning everyone!” A chipper voice said.

Daichi and Michimiya both turned to Suga, who was in the training outfit and looked really energetic.

The escort looked to him in confusion, “you said he was grumpy in the morning”

“Yeah, I did” Daichi said “but I didn’t get to say that he suddenly wakes up and acts like he was a morning person all along”

Suga pouted and made grabby hands, Daichi sighed and gave him his coffee.

“Why are you like this?”

“You love me” Suga said innocently.

“Yes, I do” Daichi kissed Suga’s cheek.

Michimiya laughed at the pair before saying in a more sombre tone, “Ok, so I’m going to tell you more about the threat assessments”

~*~

“The threat assessments are an important part of the games. They are a few days away still, but I want you to be prepared for them. They establish strength and weakness within the tributes. Do your best to get a good score and ensure you are avoided for the first part of the game.”

Tendou rolled his eyes at the district 11 mentor. “Semi, we want to be approached. We are planning an alliance with the careers. To get respect from them we need to be part of and survive the bloodbath”

Semi glared at him, “I’m trying to keep both of you alive but if you want to die, ok, sure do whatever the hell you want. It’s your inevitable death not mine”

Ushijima nodded, “We respect you Semi and we thank you for assisting us, but I do have to agree with Satori. We have a plan and we shall stick with it.”

The mentor watched them carefully. “Alright, but again, this is on your heads, both metaphorically and literally”

“Thank you” Ushijima said, before getting up. “Let’s go train now.”

Tendou whooped and dragged his larger teammate to the elevator. Ushijima would seem like pretty bad company, considering how silent he was but the two had known each other for several years and were on a first-name basis. The elevator ride was filled with Ushijima’s quiet and slightly convoluted jokes and Tendou’s loud laughter.

As the elevator opened they both noticed that they were the first ones there.

“Hey, Wakatoshi, want to just hang out for a bit?”

The other teen looked at him in confusion for a moment before nodding.

“Ok, let me tell you a joke. Why did the chicken cross the road?”

They passed about half an hour just chatting and joking before other teams started flooding the room.

~*~

Kuroo laughed at the joke Inuoka had made as they stepped out of the elevator. Time for day three.

He realised that they were one of the last teams to arrive as he noticed Kenma, Akaashi and Bokuto talking in the middle of the room. He looked for Kenma’s teammate, Yamamoto, he didn’t know him well, but he seemed nice enough and he didn’t want Inuoka to be alone. He saw the teen off to the side with some weights.

Inuoka started to walk over before Kuroo asked,

“Hey, want to join us today?”

Inuoka gave him a sad smile “Nah, I can tell you enjoy being around them and I enjoy being around Yamamoto”

Kuroo… could not dispute that. He liked Inuoka, a lot, he was great company and he liked his presence, but he did prefer that of Kenma, Bokuto and Akaashi. “Ok.”

Inuoka smiled widely at him, “say hi to your boyfriend for me”

“B-boyfriend?!” Kuroo spluttered “he’s not- Kenma isn’t- we aren’t- I don’t- “

The other teen raised a sceptical eyebrow. “That reaction says a lot you know Kuroo” He said before walking off to his friends.

Kuroo felt his face burning and took a moment to assess that thought before shoving it to the back of his mind. _Not important right now Kuroo. Get your priorities together._ He walked over to his friends and said,  
“Morning everyone”

“Nice of you to finally get here Kuro” Kenma said dryly, while his eyes asked _Are you ok?_

Oh dear, his flush must still be there. Actually, it probably just got worse as he realised just how close he and Kenma were that they could communicate without speaking. He also remembered what they had said when they first reunited. _But how on earth was he supposed to act normal when Inuoka had just said-_

He forced a smile. _I’m great_.

“Dude, how cool is that Akaashi, that they don’t have to talk to have a conversation. They just kind of look at each other! Isn’t that awesome?!”

“I will admit that it is impressive” The raven-haired teen acknowledged. “You two must know each other very well”

Kenma nodded and glanced at him “Kuro knows me better than I know myself”

“Kenma and I have known each other for that long I guess” Kuroo said with a shrug.

The pudding-haired teen in question blushed and hid his face behind his hair as Bokuto looked at both of them in awe.   
“That’s so cool!”

“anyway,” Kenma said quietly, to try direct the conversation away from himself “let’s start training.”

“Yeah. Kenma and I might go to one of the separate rooms and throw knifes for a bit, that ok with you?” Akaashi said with a glance at Kenma.

“Sure.”

“Alright, well you two, please don’t get into trouble”

“And for God’s sake Kuro,” Kenma said with a dark look in his direction “please do not anger anyone”

“But it’s my favourite pastime” he pouted.

“Kuro.”

“Ok, fine” Kuroo dragged out the ‘e’ just to see the pure annoyance on the shorter teens face.

Akaashi smirked at the pained face Kenma made before they started to walk to the sectioned off rooms in the back. They barely made it a few steps before Terushima called,

“Hey kitten, training with other careers now? Think you can get better than those of us with actual strength? You can’t, tough luck blondie”

Kenma took a deep breath, Kuroo could tell he wasn’t in the mood and would likely ignore the other tribute.

It was unfortunate that Kuroo couldn’t let anyone say anything against Kenma.

“You don’t get to say anything about him- “

Kenma held out a hand to stop him. Kuroo went silent as soon as he made the small action.

Terushima saw and raised a cocky eyebrow, “What? Are you his lapdog, Kuroo? I thought you were a career. We’re supposed to be strong but you’re just going down to his level”

Kuroo noticed Kenma’s sharp inhale and suddenly readied himself for what followed.

One thing he had learned about Kenma over the years was that you could insult him. Kuroo would defend him unless Kenma stopped him but he didn’t care himself. He didn’t think it was worth the effort, but if you _dared_ to dishonour Kuroo then you would face Kenma’s wrath. 

“So what?” Kenma said, his voice edged with annoyance.

“So what?” The other tribute repeated “that’s child labour”

“Yeah well you’re not much better”

Terushima raised a mocking eyebrow “how so?”

“You have been significantly straining my patience, really, it isn’t healthy for me.”

Terushima looked shocked for a second before sneering. Akaashi hid a smile with his hand and Bokuto just erupted into raucous laughter. Kuroo just stood there in stunned silence.

“You’ve got some claws Kitten, shame your words won’t help you win the hunger games”

Kuroo could see the deliberation in Kenma’s eyes. He was going to say something potentially lethal.

“Shame you won’t be alive to see it happen.” Kenma shot back venomously.

Terushima went totally silent as Kenma walked away, friends in tow and Bokuto laughing like a maniac.  
“Solid burn man! That was epic”  
They walked into one of the separate rooms and Kenma immediately said,  
“sit down”

Bokuto and Akaashi looked at him in confusion but Kuroo instantly sat cross-legged against one of the walls. Kenma slumped down into his lap and closed his eyes.

“People are so exhausting”

Kuroo hummed in agreement, “You didn’t have to do that Kenma”

He knew that his friend hated to use more energy than necessary and was kind of surprised Kenma had said anything, especially after he seemed pretty set on just ignoring Terushima.

He wasn’t expecting a reply, but he heard Kenma murmur “not gonna let him be mean to you”

Kuroo would be lying if he said he didn’t get a warm, fuzzy feeling at that. He looked fondly at the cat-like teen curled in his lap and ran his right hand through the blond-and-black hair while Kenma dragged his left down to use as a pillow.

Akaashi seemed to take an invisible hint and said “Come on Bokuto, let’s go train” 

Bokuto looked confused but nodded. As the pair exited the room Kuroo’s thoughts started to wonder.

He remembered Inuoka’s words from earlier and felt the flush come back to his face. He didn’t like Kenma like that and Kenma didn’t like him like that. They were friends. Besides, up until a few days ago they hadn’t seen each other in years.

_Yeah, because he was willing to die for you._

Kuroo wished his brain would shut up.

_And you are ready to die for him, you’re planning on it in fact._

Kuroo _really_ wished his brain would shut up.

“Kuro” Kenma murmured, “stop thinking so loud” 

“Sorry Kitten”

Kuroo was sure he felt his heart stop. He did _not_ mean to use that nickname. He waited with bated breath to see how Kenma would react, but the teen just hummed in response and went back to his nap.

He released the breath he had been holding. Ok, good. He hadn’t just screwed up.

He trusted Kenma implicitly and Kenma trusted him. That was how their friendship worked. Something important like them liking each other would have come up at some point. Right?

Then Kuroo remembered at the parade, how he wanted to tear everyone’s eyes away from Kenma and the pure hatred he felt when Oikawa commented that the feline-like tribute was pretty. More than that though he remembered the little things, that Kenma ate apple pie at an inhuman speed. That he didn’t like large crowds. That he had a kitten sneeze that made Kuroo’s heart hurt.

He remembered all the things he was re-learning about him now. That he made snarky remarks and sarcastic comebacks. That he spoke quietly and didn’t like people’s attention to be on him. That he was _so damn skilled,_ and people always underestimated him. That he didn’t mind it if people misjudged him but he would go through hell and back if someone tried to insult Kuroo.

Kuroo remembered that Kenma knew him better than anyone else. That he could read him like an open book and tell something was wrong before anyone else could. That Kenma listened when he needed to vent and didn’t push when he didn’t want to talk about it. That Kenma was the most important person in his life and he had been a husk for years without him.

He remembered suddenly, that he was in love with Kenma Kozume.

Wait, what? He took a moment to process the thought before coming to a realisation.

_Crap, I’m in love with Kenma Kozume._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you enjoyed Suga and Daichi being introduced (and don't want to murder me for putting two more of our precious children in the games), Kenma being sassy to everyone, and Kuroo realizing he may like Kenma as a little more than a friend


	11. Realization hit you like a truck, the doctors are quite concerned

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Iwaizumi loves his boyfriend and Kenma has an important revelation.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's a short one folks but I think you'll like it and I sincerely hope you do.
> 
> Enjoy!

Hajime Iwaizumi rarely understood his boyfriend.

Oikawa was complicated and fit together like a puzzle that’s pieces were ragged and had been chipped away. It just didn’t work and was confusing to try and navigate. But Iwaizumi had _learnt_ things in his years alongside him. He knew about his boyfriend’s weird obsession with alien theories, he knew that he had a flirtatious nature, but it would never go anywhere because he would always stay loyal. He’d learnt that he would stay up and push himself to the edge of death to achieve a goal. He was intimately familiar with Oikawa’s drive to do better and to draw the best out of everyone around him.

He also knew that Oikawa would run himself to the ground doing so. 

Currently his boyfriend was throwing a spear with a tenacity and efficiency that scared him. He could see the beads of sweat running down his face and the slight shake in his hands that signaled exhaustion, but he knew Oikawa wouldn’t rest if he asked so instead he shouted, 

“Crappykawa let’s go eat, I’m tired”

Oikawa’s eyes lit up at the chance of a break (without making himself look like he was ‘slacking’) and he said,

“Coming Iwa-chan”

Hajime Iwaizumi rarely understood his boyfriend, but he knew him, and he loved him too much to let him die to try save him.

~*~

It was now the fourth day of training and Kenma was rather irritated. Kuroo had been acting weird and he had no idea what was wrong. He had tried to ask but Kuroo had brushed him off, saying that it was fine. Kenma _hated_ not being able to help his friend. He wondered if this was a side effect of being separated for 4 years. _Or did he not know Kuroo as well as he thought he did?_

No. He refused to accept that answer.

Regardless of which it was, he did need to talk to Kuroo about the four years they had spent apart. Aside from their initial reunion they avoided the subject like the plague, mostly due to their mutual agreement to just ‘act normal’ but it was becoming harder to avoid. They had spent all of their energy on trying to act like nothing had happened, like they were when in district 1. But he had changed, Kuroo had changed, everything had changed.

And so had their relationship.

Back in district 1 Kuroo and Kenma had both been pretty comfortable with each other, he slept in Kuroo’s lap sometimes, Kuroo would carry him when he was tired, Kenma would let the taller teen slump against him after a hard day. But all of that was born partially out of necessity and the times calling for it.

Here there was so much more casual contact. Kuroo leaning on him to look over his shoulder or resting his chin on Kenma’s head. Kuroo would grab his hand and grip it tightly as he and Bokuto dragged him and Akaashi to look at something.

Another thing about district 1 was that they had kind of been forced together. Don’t get him wrong, the near decade he had spent with Kuroo was the best of his life, but it only came about because they were neighbors and their parents were friends.

Here they had actively chosen each other above everyone else, trusted each other with everything. Everything in the Capitol had happened because they _wanted_ it to. It happened because Kuroo enjoyed Kenma’s company and because Kenma enjoyed Kuroo’s. It was… really nice to have that feeling with someone.

Kenma suddenly realized that he was _happy._ He wasn’t simply satisfied or comfortable. He actually felt happy. 

At this newfound realization he smiled, it was wide and genuine, and he loved it.

He was happy here. With Yamamoto. With Bokuto. With Akaashi. He was _so, so_ happy to be here with Kuroo.

He walked back into the training room after his long and philosophical toilet break to see that of his friend group only Kuroo was there, carefully throwing his spear into targets.

Despite the other chaos in the room Kuroo turned around, probably hearing his footsteps. He looked at Kenma with a startled expression.

“What?” Kenma said, the smile not coming off his face.

“I’ve never... I’ve never seen you smile like that” Kuroo looked away and Kenma could have sworn there was a faint blush on his cheeks, but it was gone before he was sure.

“I just kind of realized,” Kenma said softly. “I’m pretty happy here with you”

The smile Kuroo gave him was blinding and Kenma couldn’t help how his own widened. He felt Kuroo slowly interlace their hands together.

Kenma would be a dead and rotten liar if he said that didn’t give him a warm, fuzzy feeling in his chest.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I really hope you enjoyed it, leave comments and kudos if you did, they make my day.  
> In other news, I'm sick at the moment so I'll be able to get a chapter up on Saturday so I hope you enjoy this and the next. Have a lovely day/night y'all!


	12. So, you thought I was useless?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The threat assessments, some kuroken, and a very important revelation

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I think you'll like this one folks but get ready for a long chapter. It's about 3,000 words compared to my normal 1,200-ish.  
> The threat assessments are happening this chapter (yay! I'm excited to see how y'all like them!), and yes, I know I did the parade, interviews, and threat assessments a bit out of order but bear with me please.  
> (Also we have a little bit of Kuroken this chapter so enjoy!)

Kenma awoke with a small smile gracing his face, still kind of on a high from yesterday but it faded upon realizing his current situation. It was the fifth and final day of training before the threat assessments that afternoon. As he got ready he could sense a sort of tension in the air and once he got off the elevator he could pinpoint exactly where it was coming from.

Normally when walking into the training room the atmosphere it was somewhat friendly if a little strained. Today however, there was palpable tension and the intensity seemed ramped up to extremes.

You could hear grunts of effort as people pushed themselves further and further to their limits. 

He walked to Bokuto, Akaashi and Kuroo. Bokuto and Akaashi each gave him a small smile that he returned while Kuroo stood close to him and hesitantly twined their fingers together like yesterday, Kenma immediately squeezed Kuroo’s hand and his hand was squeezed back in a silent show of comfort. 

They quickly settled into their normal routine, he and Akaashi went to one of the separate rooms with their knives while Bokuto and Kuroo trained with their preferred weapons (a morning-star and a spear respectively) before they all met up again for lunch. Connected to the training gym was a cafeteria-like room. There were a few tables and a selection of food. 

Kenma had barely looked at the food before Kuroo was shoving a plate piled high with healthy food into his hands. He pouted and snagged a piece (read: half) an apple pie onto his plate 

Bokuto looked shocked while Kuroo’s eyes twinkled in mirth, clearly knowing what would happen. 

“I don’t think you can eat all that” The owl-haired teen said with a bit of concern that was both touching and useless. 

Kenma raised a mocking eyebrow before  devouring  the pie on his plate. 

Bokuto was gobsmacked and Kuroo laughed at the pure astonishment in his face while Akaashi was hiding a smile with his hand. 

That was basically how they spent their lunchtimes, getting to know each other and laughing together. It was nice. 

Eventually though, they did have to return to the practically separate universe that was the training rooms. It was here that you could hear heavy breathing as people worked around their exhaustion. 

After lunch though was a bit different, the four would walk around everywhere and Kenma would often be shown the basics of each weapon so that if he couldn’t find knives in the games he would still know how to protect himself. 

Bokuto mostly spent this time trying to show off to Akaashi, clearly not remembering that the teen was also a career from the same district and wasn’t likely to be impressed with skills he knew Bokuto had. 

Kenma smirked at the blatant chemistry between the two but it turned to a frown. Judging by their interviews and the interactions he had seen they might end up discovering their feelings during the games. Kenma felt a pit of sorrow deep in his heart, it hurt him that his friends would likely die either before or after learning about each other’s feelings. He honestly didn’t know which was worse. Dying knowing you didn’t tell someone you loved them or dying knowing that someone was alive and waiting for you. 

Kenma let out a breath. No use to be thinking of that now. It would get him nowhere. 

He drifted away from the group, gently tugging Kuroo with him and thus had Akaashi and Bokuto following as well as he walked to the basic survival area. Kuroo raised an eyebrow and Kenma sighed. Kuroo was smart and so were the others but they could be dense as well. 

“Most of us will die of natural causes, starving, dehydration, infection, eating something poisonous or something else. I’d rather not be one of them and I would prefer it if none of you were either.” 

“Aww, you do care” Kuroo said teasingly but Kenma could see the twinkle in his eye at Kenma’s concern. 

He huffed and went to one of the screens to look over which berries were safe, and which weren’t. He felt arms snake around his waist and Kuroo tugging him against his chest. Kuroo rested his chin on Kenma’s head and Kenma scowled but continued to tap and match the labels of ‘safe’ and ‘poisonous’ with different berries. 

“I think that one is safe” Kuroo said, pointing to one that Kenma knew _was_ safe. 

Kenma tapped the berry and then the ‘safe’ button. A little tick appeared beside the berry and Kuroo beamed at him. 

“See? I’m smart, right Kenma?” 

His lip twitched “sure Kuro.” He said, letting just the slightest hint of sarcasm leak into his voice. 

The tall teen let out an offended gasp, “do you see this bro? Kenma is insinuating that I am unintelligent!” Kuroo was making his words intentionally long to try sound smarter. 

“Oh my gosh bro. You ok?” 

Kenma glanced at Akaashi and they shared a long-suffering sigh. 

Most of the day passed this way, Kuroo following Kenma around and watching what he was doing, feigning hurt if Kenma made a remark. Bokuto would, without fail, come to Kuroo’s defense while their respective best friends would just shake their heads. 

All things have to end eventually though. That is just how life is, and this case their bubble of laughter was broken by a loud and ominous buzzer. 

“It’s time” Akaashi said in a foreboding tone. 

“Time for what?” Bokuto asked in confusion. 

Kenma nearly face-palmed. The owl-haired teen could be pretty dense and so could Kuroo if the blank look on his face was any indicator. What was coming could be a make-or-break moment in the games, he knew that, and clearly Akaashi did too. Bokuto and Kuroo would be fine because of the sheer amount of strength they both possessed but Kenma and Akaashi were less brute force and instead lithe and quiet. It would be helpful in the games but for now? It would only be a disadvantage. All they could really do was try to leave a _different_ sort of lasting impact. 

Kenma took a deep breath. 

“It’s time for the threat assessments” 

~*~ 

The room was large and cold and sterile and Kenma did _not_ like it. All of the tributes were waiting in a room with 4 blank grey walls and a concrete floor. There were several seats around the room, and everyone was sitting around, trying to act relaxed while attempting to hide their tension. 

Kenma huffed as Kuroo beckoned him over to where he was sitting on one of the benches. He was patting the spot next to him but Kenma unceremoniously dropped into his lap, Kuroo grunted but let Kenma lie against him. They got a few weird looks but neither cared and just tried to relax while Inuoka was being assessed. 

Each of them would have 5 minutes in the room beyond the door in one of the otherwise blank walls. Each tribute would show off their skills and the game-makers would give them a score out of 12, 1 being no threat and 12 being lethal. 

Kenma honestly expected a 1 after his interview. He knew enough about the cruel nature of the games and by extension their makers to know that they would not be letting him walk away from his interview unscathed. 

A buzzer interrupted his thoughts, that sound was becoming awfully familiar to him these days. 

The creaking of a door alerted him to Inuoka, who was walking back into the room with a satisfied look on his face. He shot Kenma a brief smirk that he didn’t really understand but he shot him a small smile in return anyway. 

He was suddenly jolted and let out a whine as Kuroo moved him off his lap and got up. His friend looked down at him with an _almost_ sympathetic expression but the amusement in his eyes betrayed him. 

“A kiss for good luck?” 

His tone was teasing but Kenma decided to be just a bit mean, so he pushed himself up and kissed Kuroo’s cheek, lingering half a heartbeat too long to be considered chaste before slinking back down onto the seat saying softly “good luck” 

Kuroo’s face was bright red and he muttered something that sounded like ‘see you soon’ before quickly heading to the door, opening it with a little bit more force than necessary. 

Kenma glanced around the room and realized that nobody else apart from Bokuto and Akaashi had seen them. Speaking of his friends, they were both smirking at him (and Akaashi was snickering.) 

“Good job Kenma, you broke the poor guy” The raven-haired teen said with a touch of mischief in his eyes. 

Now Kenma had a blush on his cheeks, “shut up” 

Akaashi and Bokuto shared a conspiratorial glance and in that moment Kenma realized that he should be _scared_ of those two when they were working together. They could probably find a way to rule the world if they tried hard enough. 

“What’s this? Our lovely little Kenma blushing?” Bokuto said with a wide grin. 

“I wonder why?” Akaashi smirked, knowing full well why. 

Because he had _liked_ kissing Kuroo’s cheek. Because he _wanted_ to actually kiss him. Because Kenma had realized he may or may not kind of _like_ Kuroo. 

_Well crap._

Kenma remembered the parade that felt like a lifetime ago, how he had watched as Iwaizumi and Oikawa kissed and thought that they were idiots. He remembered that he had thought trying to have a relationship in the games was going to get them killed. And yet, here he was, wishing for the same thing himself. 

He shot his friends a dirty look and sunk further into himself as the buzzer sounded again and Kuroo entered the room. 

“What on earth was that?” he said immediately as if he hadn’t just been assessed for the hunger games, instead focusing on Kenma’s actions. 

“What was what?” He replied, feigning ignorance. 

Kuroo huffed but let Kenma curl into his side nonetheless and quietly bantered with Bokuto as the three of them gave Akaashi a thumbs up as he walked out. 

Everyone seemed to be tired and was resting for their upcoming assessments, all of them looking remarkably at ease with everyone else while they all waited. 

_I’ll be here a little while, may as well get comfortable._

~*~ 

Kuroo was satisfied, confused and bursting with happiness all at the same time, all whilst keeping his careful composure. 

He was satisfied with how he had done in the assessment, showing off a proficiency with all of the weapons in the room before displaying his specific affinity to the spear. 

He was confused by the glances Bokuto and Akaashi had shot him on his way back in and the light blush on Kenma’s cheeks. 

And he was bursting with happiness because Kenma had kissed him (on the cheek but his point still stood.) The sweet sincerity in the smaller teens eyes had warmed his heart and he was honestly melting as his cat-like friend slumped against him. 

Yamamoto was currently in the assessment, but he just could not bring himself to wake his sleeping friend. Thankfully, Akaashi didn’t have such reservations and quietly told him to get up. Kenma certainly opened his eyes and glared at the person who had disturbed him, but he didn’t move from his position against Kuroo. 

A moment later, the doomsday signal of a buzzer sounded and Kenma got to his feet and walked to the door. His shoulders were slumped and his head down. His careful strides were small and Kuroo realized what he was doing, Kenma was acting weak. He wanted to have the advantage of surprise. 

_Here’s to hoping his plan works._

~*~ 

Kenma walked into the room with a dark feeling. He could sense the rage from the interview bubbling up again upon seeing the game-makers all lazing in a sort of booth above the floor. 

He pushed his shoulders up as he let some of the strength he had built up over the last 5 days and the last 4 years show. 

He hated to exert more energy than necessary but right here, right now? This was literally life or death. 

His short strides became longer, more graceful and lithe. His eyes narrowed on the sharp blades laid perfectly on a table in the room, several targets set up already. He forced his body to break out of his habit of slouching for just 5 minutes as he stalked forward with cat-like agility. He raised his head and looked directly at the head game-maker. 

He did this all while remaining deadly silent, not willing to have an outburst like he did at the parade. A rant right now would do him now good anyway. 

The head game-maker was relatively short but looked somewhat stern. He had black hair and Kenma was pretty sure his name was Irihata. He disliked that the man’s grey eyes seemed disinterested and dismissive before he realised that it was a facade. He could see the tension in the man’s jaw if he looked hard enough. Hear the faint tapping of his fingers (a nervous tick?) on the armchair if he strained his ears hard enough. 

He smirked. The man was probably under pressure from President Washijo after his interview. Kenma was aware that that thought should probably make him feel fear, but he really just had a dark sense of amusement. _Maybe he was just becoming totally apathetic to the thought of dying._

He picked up a few blades and fiddled carefully with them. He twirled one through his fingers in an almost careless motion as he studied the game makers. 

Though most of them didn’t seem to care much they did watch his actions, or more accurately, the lack thereof. Their eyes were judging and prickled his skin. He really did hate large amounts of people. Kenma felt his irritation flare as several mocking eyebrows were raised and a few people laughed. 

He looked around the room and realized that if he tilted his head at just the right angle he could see a sort of shimmering screen separating him and the other people in the room. 

It was a shield, a protection measure that had been put in place several years earlier when a tribute from district 12 shot an arrow that could have hit the head game-maker. The tribute had been killed early on in the games after getting a bit too close to the barrier, or simply because the Capitol didn’t like those that threatened them. 

He could see a small ripple that wasn’t quite like the rest of the shield, a small loophole. 

Coming in he hadn’t had a plan, but one was slowly forming. One that may very well get him killed. 

He stopped twirling one of the knives and flicked it, so it was facing the barrier. Several people saw this and began laughing and snickering.  
“Can’t throw it over here idiot” 

He raised a single eyebrow in challenge. 

“Want to bet?” 

The short man grinned and ‘for the hell of it’ said “Sure kid.” 

“If I win, help my escort and mentor get sponsors.” 

The game-maker laughed “don’t want to know what I get if I win?” 

Kenma didn’t reply, it would be useless to know what the man wanted. 

He instead studied the barrier and he was reminded of the video games he had so enjoyed playing back in district 1 when he was little. They were always hard and required new skills to beat but sometimes skill just wasn’t a factor. Sometimes, 

_You just had to find the glitch._

Kenma hurled the knives in his hands. 

A moment later the knife had gotten through the ripple in the screen separating them and was buried into the wall, just above the head of the head game-maker Irihata. 

Everything was silent. 

Kenma gave a mocking bow like he had at the interviews before leaving the room, not waiting for the buzzer even though it did sound as he opened the door. 

It was only after he left that the game makers realized that when he had thrown the knife he hadn’t just thrown one. In every target around the room there were two blades, one in the head and one in the heart. 

_“Fuck, guess I need to find some sponsors.”_

~*~ 

Kuroo  knew  Kenma. He knew more than anyone else did and that was a fact, if you wanted to dispute it you could take it up with Kenma himself and he would back Kuroo. 

So when Kenma walked- no, as he  stalked  out of the assessment room with a dark grin and eyes gleaming with evil cat-like mirth he was a bit shocked. He looked like he was ready to win the hunger games with just a single blade and his intelligence to learn everyone’s weaknesses and exploit them mercilessly. 

Everyone seemed to sense the predator in the room and turned to him. 

Kenma regarded them all with cold golden eyes that searched them. 

Kuroo could have sworn the temperature dropped several degrees as Kenma’s gaze raked over the room. The hairs on Kuroo’s neck rose as Kenma looked directly at him but he didn’t feel any actual fear. His body was reacting on instinct but he himself felt completely safe. _I could never be afraid of Kenma._ Everyone else clearly was though and he couldn’t help but wonder, 

_Is this what Kenma would have been like if he stayed in district 1? Would he have become this ruthless and merciless person in front of him?_

The illusion was broken in that half-a-beat as Kenma slumped into his lap again and Kuroo felt surging relief as the short teen started purring when Kuroo ran his fingers through his blonde-and-black hair. 

All of the tributes let out a collective breath none of them knew they had been holding as the predator residing in the body of a small teen known as Kenma Kozume went back to sleep. 

Kuroo  knew  Kenma. He knew that everyone underestimated him, and he knew that Kenma had the potential to be lethal and become a killer, he was from district 1 and descended from a dangerous family after all, but Kuroo has never quite realized the extend of this. 

And now everyone was learning that maybe, just maybe, they should all be afraid of Kenma Kozume. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So... what did y'all think?  
> This was a very fun chapter to write and I hope you enjoyed it. If you did, please leave a comment, they really do make my day.
> 
> Anywho, just gonna briefly say, I don't know if the game makers are even ALLOWED to help tributes but for the sake of the fic pretend they totally are and this is very very legal.
> 
> Have a wonderful day everyone <3


	13. Fear said you scared it

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The results for the threat assessments are revealed and the head game maker and the president have a little talk.
> 
> (AKA Kenma subtly flexes and the Capitol realizes they have a problem)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is uh... it's essentially the last one with little-to-no emotional baggage...  
> So have fun with that?

Kenma felt exhausted. It was hard work to try put more energy than usual into his actions. He was well aware that the fact he had stalked into the threat assessments with a sharp confidence and agility would be a point in his favour and that everything else he had done would be several against him.

He really didn’t care at this point though that the game-makers were likely out for blood. It was on his head and his head alone if it turned out badly, so it didn’t really matter.

He would probably die in the games because no matter what happened he wouldn’t let Kuroo die, a decision he had come to when lying in Kuroo’s lap after his assessment. He loved Kuroo, that much had been made obvious to him today and he would be damned to hell if he let something happen to him.

He reflected on his thoughts earlier in the day when he had mused how tragic it was that Akaashi and Bokuto would either find out their feelings or would ignore them in the games and that both of them would die loving each other and that the other might now know by then. He snorted at the thought that he was now in that same predicament.

Kuroo glanced at him from his space next to him on the pristine charcoal black couch- oh. Right.

They were now in a large room with all of the tributes as they waited for their scoring on the threat assessments. There were a couple of couches in the room and the different teams and hints at potential alliances in the games could be seen. The careers mostly sat near each other (with Kenma sitting between Kuroo and Akaashi and Yamamoto next to Inuoka) while some of the outlying districts stuck together. Ushijima and Tendou were talking with Misaki and Terushima which intrigued Kenma. Were the tributes from distinct 11 planning on teaming up with careers? Kenma didn’t like the idea of the scary red-head and the intimidating giant near his friends in a kill-or-be-killed environment.

Either way, everyone was strewn around while waiting before the television at the front of the room sprang to life just as mentors and escorts came into the room. Ukai walked over to him and Yamamoto (they were sharing the same couch though admittedly they were a few people away from each other) with a nod to two other mentors he assumed were from districts 1 & 2\. Takeda came up behind Kenma and said softly,

“The game-makers aren’t happy Kenma, please be careful with how you handle them”

Kenma sighed. It’s not that he didn’t appreciate Takeda’s advice, he was just trying to do his job and keep Kenma alive after all, but it did grate on his already fraught nerves. 

“Ok”

Kiyoko and Yachi walked past next and Kiyoko bent down to say "good luck" before sitting down.

Kenma nodded gratefully at his friend before he refocused on the TV to see. Nekomata was with the same reporter he had seen in the reapings sitting at a table together with a microphone perched in front of them and a stack of papers that he assumed were the scores. They were talking, probably explaining before Nekomata picked up the slips and Kenma found it an appropriate time to start listening.

“We have the game-makers scores for each tribute here now. They have all been given a number between 1 and 12 to signify the level of threat they pose to the other tributes. 1 being no threat and 12 being lethal. So, without adieu, here are the threat assessments”

Kenma watched at Inuoka’s face came up onto the screen.

“Sou Inuoka, 9”

Everyone politely clapped as Inuoka broke into a small smile.

“Tetsuro Kuroo, 11” 

This garnered a very different reaction, and everyone looked warily at the imposing dark-haired tribute before turning to the screen at the next name.

“Kotaro Bokuto, 11”

Several nervous glances flicked over to the grinning owl-haired tribute as Akaashi quietly said,

“Well done”

“Keiji Akaashi, 10” 

The raven-haired teen shifted as various shocked people turned to him, all visibly confused as to show the thin, lithe boy had gotten such a high score.

“Hana Misaki, 7”

Everyone gave her a smile because why wouldn’t you? She clearly didn’t want to be in the hunger games, and she seemed incredibly nice.

“Yuuji Terushima, 9” 

Inuoka shot Terushima a grin full of teeth and the other teen paid him no mind while everyone else just ignored the obnoxious tribute.

“Tooru Oikawa, 11”

Oikawa grinned with a dark gleam in his eye before kissing his boyfriends cheek after Iwaizumi said,

“Good job”

“Aww, Iwa-chan you do care!”

Iwaizumi huffed but he smiled at Nekomata’s next words,

“Hajime Iwaizumi, 10” 

Kenma tried to ignore the pair that were so obviously in love and reign in his jealousy. 

He wanted that, that feeling with someone.

“Oh bullshit. All of the careers got ridiculously high scores? Like I’m believing that that’s all real and unbiased.” A teen with spiky black hair from district 6 said. Kenma was pretty sure his name was Kindaichi. The irritated tribute opened his mouth again, presumably to start ranting but his teammate (Aone?) put a hand over his mouth to silence him just as Nekomata read out the next name but Kenma did agree partly. Not that the careers were favored but that all of them were remarkably skilled and were all lethal judging by their scores and what Kenma knew of them.

“Taketora Yamamoto, 8”

His teammate smiled widely and grinned at him.

“And now for the tribute that has stunned us time and time again over the last week.” Nekomata began and in that moment Kenma realized.

The game-makers wouldn’t judge him on his previous actions. They were doing something he hadn’t thought they would. They would judge him on skill, like they would any other tribute. And he had displayed an extraordinary skill.

The ability to find ‘glitches’ within the Capitol and exploit them with his blades and deadly accuracy.

But this also had a downside. He _knew_ that his assessment was one of a kind. He _knew_ that it showed his devastating intelligence. He _knew_ that they had seen that even without directly focusing on it he had thrown knifes into the head and heart of targets perfectly. He _knew_ that getting a low score would get you killed quickly.

He also knew that getting a ridiculously high one would make you a target.

This realization was the only thing that let him stay completely still and not flinch as Nekomata said,

“Kenma Kozume, 12”

A flurry of things happened at one. Takeda and Ukai gaped openly, not even trying to hide their shock. The other mentors and escorts were dumbfounded because _how on earth did this little kid get a 12?_ Kuroo looked at him with awe while Akaashi and Bokuto just shared a glance before smiling at him.

“What the hell? No. Kozume did not get a 12. He’s useless. He’s weak. He isn’t supposed to- “ Terushima hissed in a cold fury.

Oikawa looked horrified for a moment before his face went blank, choosing to observe Terushima instead.

“Oh?” Kenma said quietly, but everyone heard him regardless. “I’m useless huh?” He stood up and let his strides get longer again, he pushed his shoulders back and raised his face, looking directly into Terushima’s eyes with his cold, golden ones.

Kenma had noticed that everyone had a ‘survival mode’ if you will. It was born from the many decades in the districts, struggling for life and from the hunger games. He had also noticed that in the games that ‘survival mode’ changed. It became something else, a deadly gleam in someone’s eyes and their body language changing into something threatening. It changed into a sharp blade or a mace or an axe or a bow. It changed people into a walking weapon. Instead of survival it became a killers calm.

Kenma had learnt today that he also had this side to him. A cat-like predator that could and would kill someone. He had realized it earlier today when leaving the assessment. He had realized when everyone’s wary eyes turned to him as soon as he walked into the room.

Terushima flinched and brought Kenma out of his thoughts. He didn’t want to make an enemy, but he supposed that he had the moment Terushima decided he was a suitable victim.

He leaned in and whispered venomously so nobody else could hear, “be glad we aren’t in the games yet”

Then he silently went back to his seat with his head down and short strides before dropping into Kuroo’s lap again. The taller teens arms wrapped around him and Kenma scowled slightly as Kuroo rested his chin on the top of Kenma’s head.

As soon as Kenma had gotten up Oikawa had paused the tv and was now holding the remote carelessly. “Everyone done being drama queens now? Can we continue?”

Everyone’s eyes narrowed at the teen that they all knew was enjoying watching the tension in the room escalate.

Iwaizumi snatched the remote from his boyfriend and clicked ‘play’

The weight of Kuroo’s head lifted and Kenma felt his friend’s breath against his ear as he quietly asked, “what did you say to Terushima?”

“Nothing” Kenma whispered back and he could feel Kuroo’s disbelief, but his friend didn’t push the question.

So Kenma happily sat back and let everyone forget about his stunt earlier.

~*~

“A 12?”

“With all due respect President Washijo, Kozume is incredibly skilled with a blade to the point he could probably kill any of the other tributes and he is one of the most intelligent tributes we have ever had.”

Washijo gave a long sigh. “You are right”

“Um.. I am?” Irihata was a bit startled by the president agreeing.

“Yes. He is one of the most intelligent people to compete in the games and if he is even half as smart as I think he is we will have a problem.”

“What do you mean?” The head game-maker asked in confusion.

“Kozume was able to identify a fault one of our shields, which is one of our most advanced pieces of technology, beaten only by the hunger games arenas. If he plays his cards right and manages to survive long enough he could find a glitch with the arena and exploit it.”

“Wait... you mean- “

“Yes. Kozume could potentially break the games and, if he does that, he could spark a rebellion.”

“But there is no way he could win and find a weakness in the arena!” Irihata said a bit nervously but trying to sound confident.

The president shook his head, “he doesn’t need to win. He just needs to survive long enough.”

“What are you saying?” Irihata asked warily despite the fact he was pretty sure he knew where this was going.

President Washijo gave him a harsh look. “Kenma Kozume will not break the arena” the man’s eyes became cold and dark. 

“Because Kenma Kozume will be dead.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> um so... yeah Washijo don't like Kenma... at all.
> 
> As always I hope y'all are doing well, I'm in isolation at the moment and have more time to write so updates MIGHT (no promises) be a bit more frequent, that being said, I hope you enjoyed this chapter (leave comments and kudos if you did, I love hearing from you all!) and are looking forward to the next (it's gonna be a long one, and an emotionally packed one)
> 
> Stay safe everyone <3<3


	14. Love is in the air and everybody forgot their gas masks

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The night before the games there is a tributes dinner, essentially the last chance for tributes to enjoy themselves before their inevitable deaths.
> 
> Kenma talks to some people and makes a realization.  
> Ushijima and Tendou have a moment.  
> Bokuto and Akaashi dance.
> 
> And Kuroken has a talk on the balcony.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This folks, is the last fluffy chapter for a while. A lot of ships have some sweet moments here and I hope you enjoy them all.  
> Hope you enjoy! <3

The tribute dinner was a formality that Kenma really didn’t feel like tonight. The games would begin tomorrow and Kenma was pretty sure nobody was feeling up to a social event on the last guaranteed night of their lives.

His outfit was nice though, a long-sleeved black top that had a high neck. It had golden vines swirling up the sleeves and several curled over his chest to form a golden rose in the centre of the shirt. He wore black jeans and high combat boots.

Kenma really was thankful for Kiyoko, she was nice and didn’t push him into conversation or give him ridiculous outfits like some of the other designers did (Kenma had winced when Aone and Kindaichi had come to the interviews wearing neon orange and green, both looking very annoyed.) He would honestly consider her a friend for all she had done for him. The other district 5 designer was Yachi, a short blonde girl that (with a bit of prying) Kenma had learnt was Kiyoko’s girlfriend. The two shared soft looks and it honestly warmed Kenma’s heart to see.

“I think you’re ready.” Kiyoko’s voice brought him out of his thoughts. “I need to go get ready but I'll see you at the party” she smiled softly at him.

“Yeah… see you then” Kenma murmured as the raven-haired woman walked out of the room and Yamamoto came in with Takeda and Yachi.

“Oh! You look wonderful Kenma, Kiyoko did a good job. Now!” Takeda clapped his hands. “Let’s get you up to the party!”

~*~

Kenma walked into the large banquet hall and quickly realized that he and Yamamoto were among the last to arrive. Kuroo, Akaashi and Bokuto were all sitting together laughing. There was a noticeably empty seat next to Kuroo that Kenma happily sunk down into after nodding goodbye to his teammate.

“What did I miss?” he asked quietly while scanning the room. At the head of the rather long table was none other than President Washijo who was smiling an unkind smile. The only other team that wasn’t there was district 4, Oikawa and Iwaizumi. _Probably fashionably late, and almost certainly Oikawa’s fault,_ he thought.

As if on cue the pair walked in the door. Oikawa sauntered to the table while Iwaizumi just followed him, shaking his head. As they sat down in the two remaining unoccupied seats Washijo stood up and tapped his wine glass with a silver spoon.

“If I could have everyone’s attention for just a moment,” the president’s words were hiding a barely veiled chill. “We are here tonight to honor you all. The hunger games is a pageant of competition and glory and I have great respect for you all that shall be competing in this year’s games.”

_What a lie. This isn’t about ‘glory’ or ‘respect’ this is just about crushing hope for another year and giving everyone another victor as a distraction from the reals problems._

“And so, without further ado”

Kenma startled at Washijo’s voice, having been lost in thought before the man stared directly at him as he said,

“Let the feast begin”

The room was a sudden flurry of people as the previously empty table was piled high with food. Kenma hadn’t blinked before Kuroo was handing him a plate with various vegetables and meat on it and another smaller plate completely occupied by a very large slice of apple pie. He gave Kuroo a soft smile before picking up the silver cutlery on the table in front of him and starting to pick at all of the food he had been given.

He’d barely made a dent in the mountain on his plate before just giving up and setting aside the ‘actual food’ for the apple pie. The teen next to him that wasn’t Kuroo said,

“You seem to like apple pie” his voice was light and cheerful so Kenma turned to him.

The other tribute had silver hair, hazel eyes and a small birthmark mole under his left eye. He had a kind smile on his face and his eyes were twinkling. His lips just seemed to naturally curl up. Kenma felt himself relax minutely, the teen had a nice aura that was calming and honestly, rather rare.

“Yeah, it’s my favorite” Kenma mumbled before remembering, “Your Sugawara right?” He had seen Sugawara around the training room and seen his score on the threat assessments (7.) He seemed like a genuinely good person and so did his teammate Daichi.

The other teen seem startled, “Oh none of that, call me Suga.”

“Then call me Kenma” he replied.

Suga gave him a smile that seemed to radiate positivity and he really couldn’t help but give a tiny smile in return.

“Oh! This is Daichi he’s my b- best friend” the silver-haired tribute said as he drew his teammates attention.

“Nice to meet you” Kenma mumbled, not really sure how he had ended up talking to people outside his little group.

Suga’s eyes shone and he started rambling about something.

Kenma was a bit overwhelmed by the teens cheerfully talkative nature and mumbled something about getting a drink. He got up after quickly saying to Kuroo he’d be at the drinks table.

The dining hall was large and there was a table in the middle with most of the food and all the tributes but there were also smaller selections of food and drink around the edges of the room. Kenma took solace in the lack of people surrounding the punch table. He grabbed a decadent glass and poured himself some tropical punch. He surveyed the room while sipping the edge of the glass.

Kuroo, Bokuto and Akaashi were all seated towards the end of the table, a gap between their group and Suga’s. Actually. Where was Suga? Kenma couldn’t see him sitting next to Daichi.

“Hey Kenma”

Oh. Over here apparently.

“Hi Suga” he replied, not totally happy that his peace had been disturbed.

The silver-haired teen smiled at him, clearly able to tell he wasn’t keen on conversation.

“I just… I know I literally met you like 5 minutes ago but you seem nice and I honestly might not see you again so I just kind of wanted to say,” Suga looked him dead in the eye with a serious expression and a sad smile “good luck. You have a real chance of winning. I hope you do well”

Kenma didn’t get the chance to reply before Suga was walking away and Kenma just whispered to the empty air,  
“Thanks Suga.”

~*~

Tendou was a pretty eccentric person and normally enjoyed parties (not that there were many in district 11 but for the few there were he had loved them) and was a tad bit annoyed that he and Ushijima were going to spend it trying to navigate the politics of potentially allying themselves with the careers. So far they had gone around and talked to Terushima and Misaki, Inuoka (and Yamamoto) and were just leaving a conversation with Kuroo, Bokuto and Akaashi.

“Well that went well” he said cheerfully, hoping to get this over and done with quickly.

“Yes. They will be good allies.” Ushijima replied.

Tendou loved his friend, he really did. But God, he could be dense.

“No Wakatoshi, no” He said, shaking his head. “They seem _fun._ Terushima seems like he knows how to have a party, Kuroo looks like he could be persuaded to get a piercing, Bokuto is a pretty funny guy.

Ushijima smiled wryly at him. “Yes but we are trying to stay alive so no midnight parties in the games.

Tendou beamed. “Of course Wakatoshi. I would never try jeopardize our safety”

Most other teams would probably not joke about the games so casually but Tendou had total faith in his partner and himself and he knew Ushijima felt the same. He was comfortable to laugh about it because what else would they do? Be sad? The word wasn’t in his vocabulary.

“Come on, let’s go talk to Oikawa and Iwaizumi” he said, “then we can actually party”

“Ok Satori”

~*~

Kenma had migrated to the desserts table after the punch area became too crowded. He was once again looking around the room at the different tributes, designers and mentors. Suga and Daichi had left a little while ago, clearly wanting to get a good night’s sleep before the games. Ushijima and Tendou were talking to Oikawa and Iwaizumi (conveniently by the punch table) and it didn’t seem to be going well. Ushijima was being blunt and a bit off-putting while Tendou oozed a slightly crazy aura. Oikawa’s face was screwed up in annoyance and Kenma quickly realized why. If he remembered correctly (and he did), Ushijima had also gotten a 12 on his threat assessment while Tendou had an 11. Oikawa was evidently pissed off that two people had gotten higher scores than him.

The teen huffed. It was pointless to be worrying about the scores. When it came down to it, none of it would matter.

Kiyoko, who was standing next to him in a beautiful midnight blue dress that shimmered with glitter that made it look like a night sky seemed to catch his irritation. Kenma couldn’t say how much he truly, truly appreciated the designer when she handed him a glass of punch. The stronger punch if the scent was anything to go by.

“Thanks.” Kenma said gratefully.

The black-haired woman smiled at him “no problem Kenma.”

Kenma returned with a tiny quirk of his lips before sipping at the punch.

There was a comfortable silence between them before Yachi’s voice broke it.

“Hi Kiyoko! Hi Kenma!” the short blonde said.

“Hello” The dark-haired girl said, a smile immediately blooming on her face.

Yachi immediately beamed back at her and Kenma couldn’t help his own tiny smile, seeing how whipped his two friends were. “Hey Yachi”

“Do you mind if I borrow Kiyoko for a minute?” Yachi asked cheerfully.

Kenma pretended to think “hmm… be my guest, but have her home by 10”

Yachi giggled and pulled the lightly flushing teen behind her onto the dance floor. Kenma watched them dance for a moment, happy for his friends.

“Hi Kenma!” called a cheerful voice.

“Oh good, another person to talk too” he said to his approaching teammate.

“Not looking to chat?” Yamamoto said with a small grin.

“Social events aren’t quite my scene” he said wryly.

Yamamoto chuckled but quickly sobered and looked at him with a serious expression. “Seriously though Kenma, try have fun.”

Kenma was a bit startled by the 180° change in personality. “Why?”

His teammate smiled slightly. “Kenma. This is technically the last night of our lives. 23 of us will die in the games and honestly I don’t think they quite count as living. The ‘lucky’ victor won’t have much of a life after it all.”

“Yeah.” It was a depressing reality.

“I mean. I’m going to die so I may as well enjoy myself right?” Yamamoto said with a sad smile.

Kenma cocked his head “how are you so positive? Everyone here should be miserable considering what’s coming and some are but you’re here talking about your likely death and smiling”

“There’s no time to be sad Kenma. I want to have fun and have my last true memories of this world with my friends at a party enjoying ourselves. What’s the point of my life if I’m just going to be immortalized as a sad kid? I want to be remembered as the person who looked at death and smiled. The tribute that still held some hope in him.”

“Hope for what?” Kenma asked hesitantly.

Yamamoto made eye contact with him. “Hope for a better world Kenma”

Kenma laughed sardonically, “What better world is there? It’s just an endless cycle of death?”

The other teen’s eyes twinkled. “You can change that. Your interview is starting to open people’s eyes. You’re hope for me Kenma. You can do good for this God-forsaken world.”

“I- I don’t- “

“I don’t expect you to win Kenma. It would be unfair of me to ask that of you, I couldn’t kill someone I love that much, and I don’t want you to have to” Yamamoto said with a gesture to Kuroo “It would also be unfair for me to ask you to try and make a difference but please. Do one thing for me.”

Kenma nodded.

“Remember me please? Remember me as the kid that smiled through his tears ok?”

“Ok” he choked on the tears that were forming and slowly slipping down his cheeks. “I promise”

“Thank you” Yamamoto whispered, pulling him into a hug. “Thank you Kenma”

He tightened his arms around his friend. “You’re welcome Yamamoto”

“Call me Tora”

“Ok Tora”

~*~

Tendou could tell that this was as far as they would be able to go with Iwaizumi and Oikawa tonight. He and the more reasonable of the pair were now acquaintances while Oikawa and Ushijima were bickering. This was one of the times his friends blunt nature wasn’t quite helpful.

“I mean 11 is still a very good score. The second best you can get”

“EXACTLY!” The enraged Oikawa screeched.

“Uh… come on Wakatoshi, let’s go for tonight” he said, hoping to keep some semblance of peace.

Ushijima looked at him in confusion, so he grabbed the teens arm and dragged him to a small space in the middle of the room being used as a dance floor.

“Come on, let’s dance and leave these guys alone”

Iwaizumi sent him a grateful look as he hauled his friend away.

“Geez, leaving me to try be a diplomat. How rude of you Wakatoshi” he said with a light tone.

Ushijima chuckled and replied, “sorry Satori.” In a half-hearted attempt to sound exasperated.

As they got closer to the ‘dance floor’ Ushijima’s expression became startled for a moment.

“Wait? You were serious about the dancing? But- “

“We’re both guys?” Tendou felt his expression soften. “more ridiculous things have happened it the Capitol and everyone loves Oikawa and Iwaizumi. And besides, even if someone saw and hated us, we’d be dealing with it together right?”

Ushijima looked at him with a look that despite Tendou’s uncanny ability to read people he could not understand before it changed into a kind determination. 

“Yes. Yes we would”

Tendou felt surging joy at those 4 simple words. It was a quiet promise that they would get through everything if they had each other. 

He let out a loud and raucous laugh. 

“Then let’s get moving and have some fun!”

He reached out for one of Ushijima’s hands and tugged him just a tad bit closer than was probably necessary.

“Okay”

As they began to sway to the music Tendou quickly realized that his friend had two left feet and took great delight in teasing him with a mischievous smirk.

“Who would have guessed? You can’t dance to save your life, don’t worry though. Tonight,” he said, inclining his head to the dance floor they were on, 

“this is our paradise”

~*~

Koutarou Bokuto was often regarded as a pretty cheerful guy, and most of the time, he was. It was small moments like this though, when that perception failed, that you could really see _him._

Kuroo had gone to find Kenma, leaving Bokuto with nobody to distract him and he was starting to fall into a spiral of dark thoughts.

Bokuto really did love Akaashi but his friend was brutally honest. More often than not that was one of the things Bokuto liked most about him, but he also knew that Akaashi would likely realize something was up and not bother to try and sugar-coat it.

“Bokuto?”

Ah. There it was. Sooner than he had expected but still.

“Are you alright?”

Bokuto looked at Akaashi. He’d had feelings for the beautiful raven-haired teen for years but hadn’t really acted on them and he had often wondered why, but as he stared into Akaashi’s deep blue eyes that shone with concern and affection he remembered.

Because he _couldn’t_ lose this.

Akaashi was too important to him to risk revealing his feelings.

“Yeah,” as he drifted out of those thoughts he came back to his problem from earlier. “I’m just... worried about the games” _and about losing you._

The other tribute’s eyes became a little bit darker. “Yeah. I think all of us are feeling it”

They both looked around the room, at all of the other tributes all eating, talking and dancing. Clearly forcing smiles and living rapidly with a strange desperation you would only find in a dead man.

Bokuto nodded in agreement.

Then Akaashi did something he didn’t expect.

“Come on, let’s go enjoy ourselves. Or at least, try to” his raven-haired crush said while grabbing his hand and pulling him up.

He felt a rush of happiness when Akaashi didn’t let go of his hand while tugging him to the dance floor. As a new song came on their other hands linked and they took a step closer to each other.

Bokuto’s mood was improving with every second and he couldn’t help but yell out, “Hey, hey, hey!”

Akaashi, who normally shook his head in exasperation when he said that just gave him a fond smile.

They swayed gently to the music before it changed to a more upbeat song that Bokuto was really getting into. They swung back and forth faster and were a bit closer. Akaashi gave him a mischievous smirk and his position forced Bokuto into twirling him out to one side before spinning him back again in a fluid and graceful motion. 

Bokuto laughed, loud and unrestrained while Akaashi beamed at him.

The next time Akaashi began to twirl Bokuto was prepared and managed to spin his partner with more ease. Akaashi’s smile distracted him and he might have, accidentally (seriously, it was an accident, he swears), tugged Akaashi back with a little too much force and thus pulled his teammate against his chest in a tight pseudo-hug.

Bokuto felt his face burning and looking at Akaashi he could see his partners face was flushed as well. Akaashi looked up at him with a soft grin that tugged at his heart before his eyes nervously flicked down before meeting his again.

Suddenly, before Bokuto could really process anything, Akaashi had pressed a chaste kiss to his cheek before spinning back into the dance. All in all the brief movement took a few seconds but Bokuto was left short-circuiting regardless.

As he was tugged back into the ecstatic chaos of dancing together among all of the other tributes Bokuto was reminded of a specific feeling. The one you get when on holiday or moving to a new house (not common in the districts but in district 2 they weren’t as rare) and you feel stressed being in a new place. He remembers the way he always felt better in his own home and in a familiar place.

It also occurs to him that he had been worried about that feeling since the reaping. He had been waiting for that kind of stress to sneak up and attack him but so far he hadn’t felt that squirming anxiety curling in his gut and he was starting to realize why.

When Bokuto looked at Akaashi it hit him.

He would never feel out of place, unsafe, unhappy or stressed as long as he had Akaashi with him. Because to him,

_Akaashi was home._

~*~

“Hey Kenma”

The blonde tribute, who was still rattled by his conversations with Suga and Yamamoto earlier, flinched as somebody approached him before relaxing, realizing it was Kuroo.

“Geez. Are you alright?” Kuroo said with a concerned look.

“I’m fine” Kenma replied, trying to convince himself. “just a bit on edge”

Kuroo gave him an unconvinced face and started walking, gesturing for Kenma to follow. “Come on then, let’s get some fresh air”

Kenma huffed but went with Kuroo to a door he hadn’t noticed in the general chaos of the room. He wondered briefly where Kuroo was taking him and if it was allowed before they stepped out onto a large balcony. Well, it wasn’t just a ‘balcony.’ It stretched far out from the building and the lights from the hall were not illuminating the area simply because of how large it was but as they walked to the edge and leaned against the railing he couldn’t find it in himself to care.

The lights of the Capitol were blinding but they were somehow contained to the streets below them, leaving the sky clear and dark. Kenma inhaled sharply as he looked up in awe at the gorgeous midnight sky and stars twinkling like diamonds while the moon, glowing with radiance, smiled down at him.

“It’s beautiful out here” he whispered, as if afraid to disrupt the fragile serenity.

“Yeah” Kuroo replied in an equally breathless voice, “it’s kind of comforting to know that even the Capitol can’t touch the sky. That somewhere there is a safe place they wouldn’t be able to find us”

Kenma nodded. It was a lovely thought, but… about the Capitol finding people…

“Kuro, can we… can we talk? About what happened?”

The taller teen froze. “Yeah.” He said, “Yeah, we probably should.”

“Ok..” Kenma replied softly, turning to Kuroo.

The other tribute was looking at him with dark eyes and his hair was both blending in with the night and stark against it. He looked handsome, standing there, pale moonlight shining on his face and gleaming in his eyes.

“Do you…” Kuroo trailed off before making eye contact with him. “Do you regret it?”

Kenma considered the question carefully. A lot of things had happened since that fateful day when he had decided to push Kuroo into the grass and to run as a distraction in effort to save his friend.

He had been taken to a new and unfamiliar environment, knowing nobody and having no shelter whatsoever. He had been mute for about a year before Hinata started talking to him once a month or so and even then he only gave short replies. His throat still hurt after speaking for longer than a few minutes, but it was steadily getting better.

Kenma also knew that it had taken its own toll on Kuroo. He knew his best friend felt incredibly guilty, thinking he had caused Kenma to be ‘alone’ and ‘without someone in his corner’ for 4 years. But he also knew it ran deeper than just guilt. He knew that _he_ had also left Kuroo alone and without someone who understood him and supported him. Kuroo’s parents loved him unconditionally. Even though the memories faded with time he knew that with absolute certainty. But… regardless of this they couldn’t _get_ Kuroo in the way Kenma did, and Kenma wasn’t just thinking that to be contradictory or try act all-knowing when it came to Kuroo, but it was simply a fact. They _literally_ knew each other better than most other people could and better than most understood.

Then there was the way Kuroo would smile at anyone that wasn’t Kenma, Bokuto or Akaashi. Since Kenma had reunited with the teen in question he had noticed the difference between his normal genuine smile and the one he wore now. This one was too wide, seemed too much like glass, ready to shatter the instant anyone pushed at it too hard before being melted down and formed into a new misleadingly sly grin, each slightly weaker than the last.

And now there was nothing left to hide Kuroo’s pain.

All his faux smiles were broken, and he couldn’t try to cut himself off from the grief anymore.

And honestly? Kenma couldn’t either.

The promise they had made to each other, to try and act normal, was broken now. They were here, standing in the moonlight, simply talking about it.

They had promised each other.

So why did it feel so _good_ to break that promise?

 _Maybe because it wasn’t healthy for either of you._ A little voice in his head whispered.

Because it wasn’t.

Kuroo had tried to act fine and was now failing.

Kenma had tried to forget and was now failing.

Because despite the fact they fell back into sync and trusted each other unconditionally they had forgotten _why_ they had that kind of relationship.

_It was because they talked to each other when they needed help._

And this time they had made a promise to deny each other that.

So Kenma broke the promise, they _did_ need to talk to each other and support each other.

Because that’s how their relationship worked.

Kenma’s decision so long ago had brought them back to this moment. They had changed, sure, but now Kenma had truly realized how much Kuroo meant to him.

He loved him. It was as simple as that.

“No” Kenma said, voice strong and confident. “I don’t regret a thing”

Kuroo gave him a small and nervous smile. “That’s… that’s good. I think we need to talk about the important things don’t we?”

“Yeah. Yeah we did” Kenma replied with a small grin.

“Well since you didn’t regret practically giving up your whole life to save me…” Kuroo trailed off for a moment before continuing,

“Then I don’t think I will regret this”

And suddenly Kuroo’s lips were on Kenma’s.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So... what did you think?
> 
> I have been looking forward to writing the Kuroken scene for so, so long and I really hope y'all enjoyed it.  
> I must admit, I didn't plan for this chapter to be this long but I hope you liked it!
> 
> Please leave comments and kudos if you enjoyed, they really do make my day and I love interacting with all of you. As usual, see you next week and have a wonderful day/night! <3


	15. War wants to know if you are free saturday.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kenma's last few hours before the games begin.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am so sorry.  
> So sorry. 
> 
> You don't understand know but you will by the end of the chapter. (also sorry for the chapter being a little late)
> 
> Enjoy the last chapter before the games properly begin!!

_As we continue to grow_   
_we will learn many things_   
_and one of them is that_   
_every good thing_   
_will come to an end._   
  
_Whether it's by_   
_a choice of mind,_   
_by a decision made_   
_between two, or by_   
_a lost loved one._   
  
_But, as these things_   
_come and go_   
_remember to make_   
_every moment count_   
_because you'll never know_   
_just when it'll go_   
_and a new will start_   
_letting the cycle repeat._   
  
_Because, every hello ends with goodbye,_   
_every love ends with heartbreak,_   
_every beginning soon comes to an end,_   
_every happiness is soon or rather later_   
_replaced with a sadness of some sort_   
_and every creation of life ends in death._   
  
_Every good thing_   
_must come to an end._

_(-Crystal Ruth)_

~*~

Kenma wasn’t one for poetry and he doubted he ever would be, but he had once heard a poem that said, ‘every good thing must come to an end.’

At the time he thought he had understood it and he did. Mostly.

Every good thing did come to an end eventually. He got that; it was a simple concept. What he didn’t get was how vague it was. Did it all end and never return? Were memories the only thing that would remain? But if the memories were a good thing would they cease, or in this case, be forgotten? Would everything become nothing but a husk in the end?

He didn’t know but that was part of the problem. The poem was rather vague all things considered. It spoke of the things that would end but it didn’t say what happened _after._

Despite this, the poem was right.

Kenma wasn’t one for poetry and he doubted he ever would be, but he had once heard a poem that said, ‘every good thing must come to an end.’

And oh how true it was.

It was currently the morning of the 79th Annual Hunger Games.

Because all good things must come to an end.

Training and honing his skills, an activity he thoroughly enjoyed despite the energy it required.

Laughing with his friends during breaks.

Just getting to spend time with Kuroo.

It would all be ending today.

In a vicious fight to the death where there could only be one survivor.

_Dammit._

May as well get up and get into a prepared mindset then.

_It just had to be on a god-forsaken Monday._

~*~

“I… I know we haven’t spent much time together, only about a week in fact, and that we haven’t worked with you as much as we probably should.” Takeda said softly after breakfast had finished, “Ukai and I have been the mentor and escort for several years now and eventually you kind of lose any kind of empathy or hope, it isn’t an excuse for not helping you as much as possible, but it is the reason. And- and despite that…” The escort trailed off with misty eyes, clearly in a pit of regret about not getting to know the tributes as well as he had in the past.

“Despite that” Ukai continued for his partner (and Kenma meant more than just a work partner, he was about 98% sure they were dating), “we believe that you two are the most promising tributes we’ve ever seen. You both are intelligent and fierce, you’re willing to try and you’ve trained hard.”

“And no matter… no matter what happens in the games” Takeda found his voice again, though it shook and wavered. “we are incredibly proud to have worked with you both”

Yamamoto looked at them with eyes just as bright as their escort’s and nodded vigorously.

Kenma however made eye contact for a moment with each of them. “Thank you” he said sincerely. “I honestly don’t know if we would be here, like this, without you both”

Takeda looked to be on the verge of tears and Ukai’s hand was slowly -as if not to alert Kenma and Yamamoto- going down and tightly gripping his ( ~~definitely boyfriend’s~~ ) friend’s.

The rowdy tribute to Kenma’s left drew the escort and mentor into a tight hug before tugging Kenma into it as well.

They were all silent for a moment, just taking in the feeling. This would be the last time they would all be together.

“Ok!” Takeda said, trying to force some pep into his voice as he clapped and drew away from the hug before wiping his eyes and cheeks free of tears. “Let’s get you on the plane to the arena”

As they walked slowly out the door, Kenma and Yamamoto taking in the sight of the apartment that had been their home for the past few days.

“Thank you, for everything” he whispered to the mentor and escort as peacekeepers lead them away to the plane.

~*~

Kenma stood in a sterile grey room as he waited for Kiyoko. He and Yamamoto had arrived a few minutes earlier after being flown to the large arena and getting injected with their trackers. Without much else to do he began to think and then the realization hit him.

He was about 10 minutes from going into the hunger games.

“Kenma?”

The short teen was jolted from going any further into _that_ train of thought and instead looked at his designer. She looked as pretty as ever in a sleek white dress with light grey and silver details. She moved gracefully and Kenma couldn’t help but be reminded of a swan.

“Are you alright?” She asked before wincing. “That probably isn’t the best question I could have asked”

Kenma nodded slightly but didn’t speak as Kiyoko began to tell him about the features of his gear for the games and helping him to organize everything that went above the plain grey body suit.

He was given a thick grey vest with various pockets, a belt that also had a lot of room for knives, food and other assorted things he may acquire, and everything was waterproof (which concerned Kenma slightly because while he could swim (quite well in fact) he knew that some of the other tributes were especially skilled in water combat).

_“Two minutes until entering the games”_

Kenma startled at the cool, collected voice before taking a deep breath.

“good luck Kenma” Kiyoko said softly.

He forced a small grin onto his face and said “what? Do you have no faith in me?” in an almost-convincing teasing tone.

“I have a lot of faith in you. It’s the other tributes I’m scared for” she replied in a similar voice with a smile that edged just a bit too far into sadness. “Seriously though Kenma. Good luck”

Kenma was a bit concerned by the sudden serious expression that took over her face.

“I consider you a friend.” Kiyoko looked a bit torn up for a moment before continuing, “You are more real than anyone else I know. Yachi is my girlfriend and I love her, Takeda tries and Ukai isn’t from the Capitol like we are but Yachi, Takeda and I grew up in a society where everything beautiful is just a lie, manufactured to hide whatever is behind it. Ukai is too jaded and cynical. I don’t blame him; he’s suffered a lot in his life and has had to send a lot of kids to their deaths in the games, but he doesn’t make for great company. I hold them all close to my heart and I can’t claim to be better than them. But Kenma,” She said, making eye contact with him. “you’re genuine. The interviews were the most real display of emotion I’ve seen for a long time. Every other tribute tried to act a certain way and exploit certain things to try and make an impression to give them an edge, but you didn’t go onto that stage planning to make a mark. You went out there because you had to due to unfortunate circumstance and yet _you_ are the one that everyone remembers. Oikawa and Iwaizumi might be the darlings, Bokuto and Akaashi may have captured their hearts, Yamamoto may have made them laugh and Kuroo might have charmed everyone, but you still upstaged them all. Because despite the fact you are quiet, dislike people and don’t want to be given attention, everyone _will_ pay attention to you because though they might not understand that you are genuine or that you are the only one not acting they know that you are something _different,_ something _new.”_

Kiyoko was deadly serious and Kenma knew in that moment that he respected her. Despite her saying that she grew up in a society that faked beauty he truly thought that she was the exception.

”Thank you Kiyoko, for everything you’ve done for me” he whispered softly.

”It was my pleasure Kenma” she replied with a wide smile that was more real than any Kenma had seen from someone in the Capitol before.

_“10 seconds until entering the games. Please enter the circular chamber”_

Kenma was about to turn and walk into the glass tube that was in the center of the room, but Kiyoko pulled him into a hug first.

”Good luck Kenma” she said before releasing him as he walked to the chamber slowly.

The voice that had slowly been counting down in the background reached zero half a beat after Kenma said,

”Thanks Kiyoko”

Then suddenly the door closed, and he was gone.

~*~

This is it.

That was the only coherent thought in Kenma’s head as he did was lifted into the arena.

It was a large circle of water with a beach surrounding them. Beyond that Kenma could see a forest. The... lake? Was divided into 12 sections, each with 2 circular platforms for one of the 24 tributes.

He looked around him. He was next to Iwaizumi and Aone so it went in district order... that must mean that Yamamoto was directly opposite him and that Oikawa and Kindaichi were also far away.

Kenma would be lying if he said he wasn’t a little bit relieved to not be standing near Oikawa, considering that they had only ever had negative interactions and he was pretty sure that the taller tribute would kill him if they ran into each other. 

_“Welcome to the 79th Annual Hunger Games and may the odds be ever in your favor”_ a voice Kenma recognized as the head game makers rang out clear in the arena, washing over all of them.

Irihata’s voice slowly counted down.

“60.”

Kenma began to feel panic rise in his throat.

“50.” 

No. He couldn’t break down and have a panic attack like he did on the train.

“40.”

He couldn’t shut down now.

“30.”

Kenma tried to calm himself down.

“20.”

_It wasn’t working_

“10.”

_Why wasn’t it working?_

“9.”

He gasped for air

“8.”

His lungs screamed at him

“7.”

_He didn’t want this-_

“6.”

_I_

“5.”

_Don’t_

“4.”

_Want_

“3.”

_To_

“2.”

_Die_

“1.”

  
  


“Let the 79th Annual Hunger Games, BEGIN!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I uh...  
> Sorry....
> 
> Please, leave comments and kudos if you enjoyed! 
> 
> Yeah so... the games are starting next chapter... stay tuned for that!!


	16. Heaven rejected your job interview

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The games begin.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ok. um.  
> I... didn't think this day would come, I am absolutely amazed that I am posting the first chapter of the games. This is the first real long story I've written, I normally just write one-shots after all.  
> I am so thankful for my two beta-readers, thank you so much for letting me rant about Catalyst to you constantly.  
> I am also very very glad to have all of you readers, thanks for all your lovely comments, they genuinely make my day and whenever I see there is a new comment on a chapter I get really happy, so thanks to all of you.
> 
> This is a long chapter, and a L O T happens so enjoy! We are getting the beginning of the long-awaited angst so I hope you're ready.  
> So, without further adieu, here's chapter 16.

_Irihata’s voice slowly counted down._

_“60.”_

_Kenma began to feel panic rise in his throat._

_“50.”_

_No. He couldn’t break down and have a panic attack like he did on the train._

_“40.”_

_He_ _couldn’t_ _shut down now._

_“30.”_

_Kenma tried to calm himself down._

_“20.”_

_It wasn’t working_

_“10.”_

_Why wasn’t it working?_

_“9.”_

_He gasped for air_

_“8.”_

_His lungs screamed at him_

_“7.”_

_He didn’t want this-_

_“6.”_

_I_

_“5.”_

_Don’t_

_“4.”_

_Want_

_“3.”_

_To_

_“2.”_

_Die_

_“1.”_

_“Let the 79th Annual Hunger Games, BEGIN!”_

Suddenly the fear Kenma felt was increased and his knees buckled, almost causing him to collapse onto the platform. He quickly tried to make his way off and into the water but tripped and instead fell flat back onto the cold metal. His breathing was quick and only speeding up while his vision was getting hazy around the edges.

Everything around him was moving.

Iwaizumi was already on the thin strip of rocks leading to the cornucopia and sprinting faster than he thought possible. Kindaichi was only a few feet from the shore of the beach behind them. He could distantly see Suga, Daichi, Asahi and Nishinoya all running into the forest, Daichi carrying a small backpack.

_You have to move._

He couldn’t.

He couldn’t force himself to get up.

_YOU HAVE TO MOVE!_

Kenma was suddenly in the water, his limbs furiously working to get him to the shore.

His lungs screamed for air, but he couldn’t lift his head, all his energy going into propelling himself forward.

_He had to lift his head._

_He had to breath._

_He had to live._

Kenma’s head jerked up and he took in a deep breath that made his lungs shudder before sinking back into the waves. He could heard muffled screaming from all around him and he closed his eyes for a moment, trying to block it out.

_I don’t want to be here._

_I don’t want to be here._

_I don’t want to-_

Kenma was pretty sure the water around him was being tainted red with blood. Blood of the people he’d been with for the past week. People he didn’t take the time to know. People he wished he had known.

Sand brushed against Kenma and he realized he was now near shore.

_When did I get here?_

_I don’t-_

_I don’t remember._

_I can’t remember._

_Why I can’t remember getting into the water?_

_When did I get into the water?_

_Why am I not ok?_

_Why am I panicking?_

_I thought I was ready._

_I thought I was ok with dying._

**_But I’m not._ **

A loud scream echoed over the water, sounding almost muted to Kenma. That would’ve fit in with the cacophony of pain above the unpredictable waves, but it sounded feminine and familiar. Kenma felt a rush of chills unrelated to the cold water he was wading through.

_Is…?_

_Is Misaki?_

Kenma was now standing on the sand. Well. Standing was a stretch. He was on his knees, shaking while his eyes slid out of focus. His thoughts were becoming hazy and he felt his heart beating in his ears, louder and faster than was probably healthy. He felt so… detached and numb while also being far too grounded in the horrible, horrible reality that was playing in front of him.

Kindaichi was on top of Misaki, a thin blade almost similar to a katana was in his hands. 

And wedged into her heart.

Kenma felt like crying out but couldn’t get enough air into his lungs to do so. Everyone else was still moving, not at all concerned by the tragic murder on the devastatingly picturesque beach.

Suddenly a gleaming light glared into Kenma’s eyes and he numbly looked at the blade sitting comfortably in the sand, it’s evidently sharp edges seemed to be cutting through the haze of his panic and he suddenly had a terrible, dark feeling in his gut. 

He shuffled to the blade and picked it up in one hand. He slowly stood up. There weren’t many people on the beach anymore. Everything was almost silent.

Except for Kindaichi.

He was breathing heavily while still being on top of Misaki’s body a few feet away before letting out a small crow of victory. 

Kenma realized in a single moment that he hated that sound.

The little cry of celebration, as if this was all a game. As if Kindaichi hadn’t just killed Misaki. Probably the only one here who truly deserved to grow old with the people she loved.

But she didn’t.

Because she had been killed.

And her murderer was in front of him.

And was now turning to face him.

_Oh God…_

Kindaichi started to stalk toward him, something dark and unforgiving in his eyes.

_Dammit._

Kenma raised the knife in his hands to hover in front of him in a defensive position.

The dark-haired tribute ran forward and let out a vicious cry while gripping his blade tightly. Red dripped and stained the sand but Kindaichi took no notice, instead focused on his new prey.

He knew, deep down, that he couldn’t let Kindaichi get close to him or he _would_ be killed. But… he didn’t want to think of what it meant to _stop_ the teen.

_It would mean killing him._

Kindaichi was dangerously close, a few steps forward and that blade would be in Kenma’s stomach like it had been Misaki’s.

In his heart of hearts he knew what he had to do.

Kindaichi raised his blade.

So did Kenma.

Kenma flinched when Kindaichi’s wide, shocked eyes locked on his before looking at the knife now in his throat.

_Because Kenma didn’t miss._

~*~

Tendou wasn’t a good person. 

He knew that, he acknowledged it, and he accepted it.

He wasn’t some angel come to help or a pedestal of kindness. He was a realist; he was a survivor. And sometimes survival meant getting rid of threats. 

And tragically, the hunger games meant survival of the fittest.

Tendou wasn’t a good person.

But that didn’t mean he liked the dark shade of red that was dripping down his hands. 

He hated it actually. 

He doubted the Capitol would care though. So instead of breaking down and trying to scrub himself clean he just let himself sink into a horrible, horrible blood lust that carried him through the bloodbath. 

After several long minutes of horrifying apathy his vision cleared, and he was standing on the beach.

He had blood on his cheek.

It wasn’t his.

Tendou saw several bodies lying on the sand and felt a pit of sorrow. 

He was going to survive, he wouldn’t let himself and Ushijima die, but he truly hated that they had to kill for the Capitol’s amusement and entertainment. He would prefer to not have blood on his hands.

But he was selfish. He would survive and so would his best friend.

And the best way to survive was to kill everyone else. So Tendou did.

Because Tendou wasn’t a good person.

~*~

Red.

Akaashi liked the colour red. It was vibrant and flashy but could also be deep and rich. Red was a good colour. A _nice_ colour.

Until now.

Akaashi hadn’t quite realized how _violent_ the colour red could be. Anger, danger, power. _Blood._

The district 11 tributes, Ushijima and Tendou had immediately targeted a tribute from 12 (Akiu?) and while he had been distracted by Ushijima, Tendou had crept up and used brute strength to snap the teens neck with a harsh _crack._

He flinched at the delighted grin on Tendou’s face and he couldn’t help but notice that the teen’s hair was a violent shade of red. Ushijima’s face was completely blank and honestly that might have been worse. Akaashi was drawn from watching the pair when he heard a scream that could only be born from pain and death and pure, unfiltered agony.

Akaashi turned to see Kuroo’s teammate, Inuoka, being tackled by 2 tributes from district 10 (Onaga and Komi, his mind supplied). Kuroo, who had been fending off Aone whirled around as the tall teen dived into the water and headed to shore.

He could _see_ the moment Kuroo realized that Inuoka was dead in the way his eyes widened for a moment before his whole face seemed to become shadowed and he began moving.

The two tributes didn’t stand a chance.

Kuroo fought quickly and fluidly despite his movements seeming heavy with grief. Onaga and Komi were dead in an instant, quickly and painlessly. The tall teen then collapsed onto his knees next to his teammate, his eyes full of despair and darkness.

Akaashi hesitantly walked to him and silently put a hand on his shoulder. Bokuto joined them a second later, sitting down next to Kuroo (Akaashi couldn’t help the rush of relief seeing his best friend safe and sound apart from a small scratch on his cheek).

Kuroo murmured something so quietly that Akaashi couldn’t catch it before he stood up, giving them both a small smile. It was sad but still genuine.

“Come on guys, let’s go join the others” he said, his voice slightly weak.

All of the other careers were gathered in the cornucopia, each picking out a weapon if they hadn’t already. Nobody spoke apart from the brief whispers between friends until Oikawa announced that he would be back in a moment before disappearing.

Akaashi normally wouldn’t care that much but something in his gut felt wrong so he followed the brunet quietly, careful to keep his steps light. He was confused. Oikawa was running down one of the strips of rock, towards the beach.

The raven-haired teen could hear Kuroo and Bokuto coming (they must have noticed him leave), their tell-tale footsteps giving them away (Bokuto’s were loud and sporadic while Kuroo’s were heavy and more precise).

Akaashi didn’t pay them any attention though, he was more concerned about Oikawa, only a few meters from the beach now. Akaashi couldn’t figure out why he was there until he saw Kenma standing on the beach. His eyes widened when Oikawa pulled out a throwing knife from his belt.

He couldn’t get to shore in time to stop him so Akaashi did the only thing he could think of,

~*~

“KENMA!”

Akaashi’s voice was loud and rang in Kenma’s ears. He could faintly see the raven-haired teen in his peripheral vision standing near the cornucopia, but he looked like he was going to run toward Kenma.

_He’s warning you!_

Kenma whirled around, looking across the beach and into the line of trees surrounding them, trying to find a threat. 

He was alert and his eyes darted rapidly over the area, yet he didn’t see the blade cutting through the air towards him.

  
  


But someone else did.

  
  


Kenma watched with wide and horrified eyes as Yamamoto emerged from the forest and ran directly into the path of the knife.

He couldn’t tear his eyes away as Yamamoto fell to the ground.

“Yamamoto!” He screamed, running forward.

The blonde tribute glared at the direction the knife had come from only to see Oikawa standing a few feet away looking shocked.

Kenma felt fury and grief and shock and so many dark emotions rising in him but he shoved them away and instead looked at the still tribute collapsed on the sand and sank to his knees beside him.

“Yamamoto?” He whispered.

“Yamamoto!”

Horror overtook all parts of his being as blood poured out of the wound in his teammates chest.

“YAMAMOTO!” He screamed, his voice shaking and cracking.

_“TORA!”_

Kenma could faintly hear footsteps coming closer and the sound of a blade being pulled from a belt. Oikawa.

“Kenma”

The shaking tribute startled.

“Tora” he whispered to the teen that had just spoken.

“Kenma” Yamamoto repeated, his voice weak and hoarse.

Kenma felt a sense of urgency in his friends tone so he stayed quiet as the rapidly paling teen spoke.

_“Run”_

The world stopped for a moment, Kenma looked at Tora, lying on the sand, his skin pale, his eyes cloudy and distant, his frame shivering violently and his hands clutching Kenma’s far too weakly.

He could see Oikawa, he was so close, closer than Kindaichi had gotten, a knife in hand.

Kenma ran. His whole body protested, screaming at him to return to his injured friend and protect him from Oikawa and the other vicious and cut-throat monsters that were in this hell with them, waiting for someone to be injured before circling them like sharks.

Kenma wanted to run back, but he wouldn’t disobey Yamamoto’s words.

Tora wanted him to run.

So Kenma _ran._

And he tried, _so hard_ to block the pained scream that filled the forest before abruptly cutting off.

Kenma ran a bit faster.

~*~

Kuroo was _furious._

No, he was _beyond_ furious.

He was perfectly ready to slit Oikawa’s throat and have _no_ regrets.

He was so, _so_ ready.

“Oikawa.” He growled lowly as he approached the tribute and the other careers (and Tendou and Ushijima apparently?).

Akaashi, who normally would have reprimanded him and held him back was just standing at his side (Bokuto with him), watching with a disdain that gave _Kuroo_ chills and he wasn’t even on the receiving end of the raven-haired tributes frosty glare while letting the vest slip up a bit, revealing his belt and the shockingly large amount of horrifically sharp blades adorning it.

Bokuto’s hand was curled into a fist that looked _alarmingly_ tight. He didn’t even try to hide the darkness in his eyes and he silently walked over to a pile of weapons and carefully and in a painfully slow way picked up a morning-star and swung it effortlessly with just a hint of a dangerous grin on his face before coming back to Kuroo’s side and watching the other careers like a predator.

Terushima had a faded tear tracks on his face and Kuroo would have felt a pang of sadness for the teen that had lost his partner if it weren’t for the utterly unsympathetic look he was currently directing to Yamamoto’s body on the beach.

Tendou and Ushijima were just standing off to the side, watching the whole scene.

_Smart._

Iwaizumi was beside his boyfriend, watching Kuroo, Bokuto and Akaashi with a fierce determination.

_Aw, he wants to defend his boyfriend._

_How cute._

The teen in question raised a mocking eyebrow. “Kuroo.” He said in a sickly-sweet manner, like he was _so perfectly innocent._

Kuroo glared and Oikawa then said,

“Oh! You’re not still upset I tried to kill blondie are you? Get over it. This is the hunger games. No time for your little- “

“Nobody,” Kuroo hissed, barely audible but everyone heard him _just fine_ if Terushima’s startled look was anything to go by, “and I mean _nobody_ touches Kenma.” He looked around at everyone gathered. “Got it?”

Unfortunately, once again Oikawa _didn’t. get. the. hint._

“Why not?” He said with a smirk.

Kuroo _really_ hadn’t wanted it to come to this but _oh well. He could_ deal _with it._

“No one,” he started directly into the smug bastards eyes, “hurts my boyfriend”

~*~

The night before the games begun (The tributes dinner)

_And suddenly Kuroo’s lips were on Kenma’s._

Kuroo was fully prepared for the worst so he was stunned to realize that Kenma was kissing him back.

_Holy crap Kenma was kissing him back._

Kuroo drew back a bit, half to try and comprehend the situation and partially out of fear that his face was melting from all the heat in his cheeks, only to look down and realize that Kenma was also fiercely blushing a pretty pink.

The smaller teen in his arms was looking at the ground before shyly glancing up at Kuroo with a tiny smile and his heart _melted._

 _It was worth it._ Kuroo decided in barely an instant _It was **all** worth it for this moment._

He didn’t really think before breathing “be my boyfriend?”

The soft smile on the cat-like teens face turned into a slightly less soft frown.

“But the games…?” Kenma said hesitantly, as if afraid to mention the death sentence weighing on both their shoulders.

“I… “ Kuroo didn’t quite know how to answer. “I think I would regret it more if I didn’t say anything and never told you how I feel”

Kenma watched him and Kuroo was hypnotized by his bright golden eyes, “and how do you feel?”

“I like you- God. I- I like you a lot”

The blonde teen’s smile returned full force and Kuroo realized he would do anything to keep that smile on Kenma’s face.

“I’ll be your boyfriend”

Kuroo was startled when Kenma grabbed his shirt and dragged him down for another soft kiss.

Kenma drew back just a hair to whisper against his lips,

“I like you a lot too”

~*~

Oikawa was shocked. Well and truly shocked.

Kuroo and Kenma were dating?

But... he... he tried to kill Kenma. Kenma that he couldn’t read. Kenma that got a 12. Kenma that was a threat. Kenma that he thought didn’t care about anyone or anything.

The way Kuroo was looking at him, with enough fury to kill him on the spot... Oikawa knew (don’t ask him how, he just knew), that he would look like that if someone tried to kill Iwaizumi.

He _knew_ that.

And suddenly he knew something else.

He had tried to kill Kuroo’s ‘Iwaizumi.’

And he _did_ kill Yamamoto, someone that had people who cared about him.

His eyes widened in horror and he choked on the knot forming in his throat.

_Kenma was right._

At the interviews, Kenma said they weren't just tributes and it seemed like a perfect plan. The perfect way to be noticed. It was ingenius, nobody could forget Kenma now and it was a scary advantage to be facing. Oikawa knew that Kenma had to be eliminated, he was already a top contender and they were only through the interviews.

But Kenma wasn't just a threat. He was a _person._

"I- " Oikawa began before stopping, not knowing what to say.

Oikawa could see the cold fury in Akaashi’s eyes falter for a brief second and Bokuto’s stance becoming confused instead of threatening. Kuroo still looked at him with a scary intensity but honestly? Oikawa was realizing that it was well deserved.

He tried to school his face into neutrality (he was pretty sure he failed) and turned away sharply. 

“Sorry.” He muttered before walking to assess the supplies they had at the cornucopia, Iwaizumi hot on his heels.

“Tooru? Are you ok?” his boyfriend asked softly.

Oikawa forced a smile, hoping it looked real. “Of course Iwa-Chan!”

Iwaizumi clearly didn’t believe him but seemed to sense that Oikawa wouldn’t talk right now and instead hesitantly left him to his thoughts.

Thoughts that were quickly spiraling.

Oikawa was a career. He had been working to win the games his _entire_ life. He had trained for this. He had trained to survive. He had trained to fight.

He had trained to kill.

So why, _why,_ couldn’t he get Yamamoto’s face out of his head? Why couldn’t he forget Kenma’s distraught cries.

_Why?_

Oikawa looked around, desperately trying to find some sort of answer but instead only seeing the beach.

And all of the bodies among the sand.

There were only 7, and technically that was a small number but to Oikawa it still felt overwhelmingly large.

Oikawa was a realist, he didn’t like to delude himself and tried to be as honest with himself as possible and yet he felt a dark pit of dread as he watched the other careers stalk among each other, all holding deadly weapons and tried to convince himself they were for self-defense.

Oikawa was a realist; he accepted any situation and made the most of it. And looking at the beach he was hit with the reality of his situation.

 _That_ _maybe it wasn’t worth it._

~*~

Kenma didn’t know where he was. He had been running through the trees for a while and was starting to get tired.

He could see some sort of light ahead of him. Maybe the arena wasn’t just forest after all. He slowed down as he approached the end of the overgrown forest.

A large desert stretched on for almost as far as Kenma could see, beyond it appeared to be grasslands.

_Could the arena be several different biomes?_

He didn’t have a way to quickly test the theory and besides, he had more pressing issues. Kenma was starting to feel an edge of hunger creep into his stomach and the sun was beginning to set.

_Shelter, food and water. That’s the priority._

He walked away from the desert; it would be safer to have the shelter of the trees during the night rather than be out in the open. 

He could faintly hear something. It sounded like-

It sounded like a river!

Kenma followed the sound, careful to keep his footsteps light and to check his surroundings.

He quickly found the source of the noise and looked at the river running through the forest and presumably out into the desert. 

Kenma could only hope that it was clean. It was flowing quickly, that was a good sign, but it wasn’t a guarantee. Running water had the potential to self-purify and it was better to drink from a fast-flowing river than most other water sources. Besides, Kenma reasoned, the Capitol wanted a show. It wouldn’t be good if we all died by drinking unclean water, meaning that this was likely to be safe to drink.

_I hope so at least._

Kenma cupped his hands and knelt on the river bank, lowering his hands into the water before bringing them out and letting water trickle into his throat.

He stayed kneeling for several minutes, drinking and then washing grime off his hands and arms. 

_That’s water done for now._

Next on his agenda was food. He had made sure to learn which berries were safe to eat during training so he was pretty confident that he could find something in the forest. He walked away from the river, careful to remember which way he went and (theoretically) how to make it back. He quickly found bushes covered in berries and then had to call on his knowledge of them before carefully picking a few bushes and pointedly avoiding several others. 

He ended up with a decent pile of berries and safe plants that he shuffled to a dense section of forest. He spotted an incline in the ground and realized that there was a small cave, if you could call it that, in the ground. It was small and Kenma had to hunch over to fit in with how low the roof was, but it would suffice. It was relatively hidden and was more sheltered than the forest outside. Kenma sat down, cross-legged and began to pick at the berries. He would have to find better shelter tomorrow, but this would suffice for now. Actually, what were Kenma’s goals for tomorrow? He was well aware that food, water and shelter were the most important things and thus should be his highest priority, but he could only think one thing.

_Find Kuroo._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I uh... I'm sorry...  
> Um...  
> Yeah so that happened.  
> I hope you enjoyed this chapter and if you did please leave comments and kudos, they really do make me so happy and I love to interact with all of you!  
> Have a wonderful day/night and I'll see you next time! <3


	17. They say home is where the heart is but what if you home is heartless?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> An interlude

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey y'all!  
> Hope you are all doing well and if you're not I hope this chapter can cheer you up a little bit.  
> I wasn't doing fantastic this week, it was honestly pretty crappy for me but then loosing_sleep01 commented on chapter 8 with a link to fanart they had made for this fic! I absolutely adore it and I recommend checking it out (https://loosingsleepoverfiction.tumblr.com/post/616135763061538816/for-aconcernedcitizen-i-dont-even-use-my)! Thank you so much to loosing_sleep01 for the fanart, it means the world to me <3
> 
> Now, onto the chapter. It's certainly not the best chapter nor am I completely happy with how it came out but it is still quite relevant to plot later on despite being a sort of interlude and different POV than normal, it is a little bit filler but I can't do too much about that sadly. It's also kind of a calm before the storm type thing so I hope you like it regardless.

Hinata Shoyo didn’t like the hunger games; and, as such, didn’t tend to watch them (his mother hadn’t let him when he was younger anyway but now that he had the choice he still avoided it). They were bloody, harsh and overall rather depressing to watch.

But this year was a little bit different.

~*~

3 years earlier

Hinata laughed as the owner of the bakery thanked him for helping lift a few sacks of flour.

“Really, it was no problem” He said with an earnestly. “Tell me if you need any more help! It’s fun to help you out!”

The old man gave him a smile and held out a little bag “here are some tarts for you, there’s enough for you and your family.” He winked “plus and extra one, just in case”

Hinata felt his eyes light up “thank you!” he said happily, taking the paper bag from the man.

He thanked him again before running off home, ready to share the treats with his family. Hinata didn’t want to head into the mess of the town square so he took a back route that led him behind all the houses and shops, nearer to the fence.

Hinata hummed happily to himself while walking beside the border of the district until he noticed a short (taller than him but still) figure in all black with a hoodie over his head stalk to a small set of bushes, directly next to the fence.

He stopped humming and stayed quiet and watched as the person ducked into the bushes and disappeared for a second. Was it magic? Hinata was suddenly afraid. What if black magic existed? Did he just see a witch? Oh god… did he just see a witch?

The figure rose up and Hinata suddenly felt stupid, until he realised they were on the other side of the fence. There… was there a hole in the fence hidden by the bushes? Hinata couldn’t see anything there, but he supposed that made it the perfect spot.

Wait. Wait. Wait.

This person had gone through the fence. Meaning they were outside the district. Which meant…

Holy crap did he just see a rebel?!

Hinata felt panic spike. There was a rebel that could get in and out of district 5, he should run away and tell somebody. Yeah. That’s what he should do. …But he was also curious. And that curiosity got the best of him.

He walked carefully to the bushes and pushed through all the leaves. He doubted there was anything there before he saw the small gap. Hinata had to hold in a gasp, there was a way out of the district! He shimmied through the hole and tried to avoid the bits of wire that were poking at him.

Hinata emerged on the other side of the fence. 

He was outside district 5. 

The rebel must have heard him moving through the leaves because when Hinata rose from his knees the person was looking at him, startled. Hinata could see golden eyes and thin strands of bleach-blonde hair. Hinata realized that they were male and probably only a year or so older than him. He… didn’t look like a rebel.

The stranger turned away quickly and darted away.

“Hey!” Hinata said, running after him. “are you a rebel?”

The teen stopped suddenly, looking back at him with an incredulous expression.

Hinata startled and came to a screeching halt to avoid crashing into him.

The hooded figure said nothing but gave a minute shake of his head.

“Why are you out here then?” Hinata asked, unable to reign in his curiosity.

“I live here” the teen mumbled with a small gesture behind him.

“Really? That’s so cool!” Hinata said before looking past the stranger and to the campsite behind him. There was a small shelter at the base of a tree with a hammock tied between two trunks. A small fire sat in the middle with two logs on either side acting as seats. A fish was sitting on a small platform over the fire and was cooking and there was a selection of berries off to the side. Yet despite the apparent amount of food Hinata couldn’t help but notice how skinny the teen was.

He sat down on one of the logs (ignoring the strangers slight scowl at his getting comfortable) and brought out the bag of treats before taking two out and holding one out.

“Here, I got these earlier”

The other teen looked at him suspiciously for a moment before hesitantly taking the offered tart.

“My name is Hinata Shoyo! What’s yours?” He said while happily munching on his own treat.

The other teen was quiet for a moment.

“Kenma”

~*~

During the tributes parade

Hinata gasped as they called out for the tributes of district 5 and a chariot emerged. 

Kenma looked so cool!

Kageyama, who was seated next to him also watched in something _almost_ like awe (He honestly had no clue, Kageyama was so hard to read).

“Woah! Whenever I see Kenma he’s like eughh” Hinata slouched down and pouted. “But now he’s like wah!!” He waved his hands about with a smile.

The dark-haired teen next to him huffed. “What the hell does that even mean?” he muttered before returning his gaze to the tv.

Hinata sat and pouted but his eyes were firmly locked on Kenma, waving confidently to the crowd with a smile on his face. Hinata suddenly realized,

_ Kenma has a chance to win this thing. _

~*~

During the interviews

Hinata knew that it was all going to hell the second Kenma corrected the host about his name (which made him feel all kinds of happy and fondness for his friend). It only got worse when Kenma said he wouldn’t win, and the host began questioning him further.

And then the blonde’s fierce call out and his walk off stage happened.

Hinata was in shock. Well and truly in shock. He- Kenma just- Did-

Kageyama whistled from his place at Hinata’s side (they had taken to watching the games together at Hinata’s house. He really couldn’t express how much he appreciated his best friends presence.).

“Geez. He didn’t hold back, that could end badly.”

“Hey! Someone had to say it” Hinata defended Kenma harshly.

“Woah, I’m not trying to attack him. I’m just saying that the Capitol won’t like it” Kageyama tried to calm(?) him.

“Yeah, sorry” he mumbled, his worry for Kenma taking over his anger.

His best friend seemed to notice this and put a hesitant and awkward hand on his arm.

“I wouldn’t worry. Kenma seems to know what he’s doing.”

Hinata frowned.

“I hope your right.”

~*~

After the threat assessments

The next time Hinata and Kageyama were seated in front of the TV in Hinata’s living room (he used the term loosely; it was just the most usable room in the house) was the day they were going to reveal the results of the threat assessments. Hinata was sitting cross legged on the floor, hands splayed behind him as he leant back. Kageyama was next to him, close enough that their shoulders would bump it one of them moved. The dark-haired teen was also cross legged but was leaning on his hands, his elbows resting on his knees.

Hinata was a little bit worried (ok he was a lot worried but whatever, it’s fine!), and Kageyama was sitting silently next to him as the announcer called out each tribute’s score until it came to district 5.

_ “Yamamoto Taketora, 8” _

Kageyama blinked, the only sign of shock he would allow on his face while Hinata gasped.

“Woah! That’s such a good score. I hope Kenma does well too!”

His friend huffed, “You’re too worried about Kenma dumbass”

Hinata made an affronted sound and whacked Kageyama’s shoulder. “Geez, your so mean!”

“Yeah well- “

_ “Kozume Kenma, 12”  _ the announcers voice filtered through their argument, cutting Kageyama off.

“WHAT!” 

“Did he just say- “

“Oh my goodness! Kenma did it! He did it!” Hinata exclaimed, grabbing hold of Kageyama’s arm with a laugh and shaking him lightly. “he did it!”

The excitable teen was expecting a disgruntled retort and to be pushed away but instead got a fond look and Kageyama saying,

“Yeah. Yeah he did”

~*~

Just before the start of the games

Hinata knew that the games would begin today but he didn’t know the exact time. He and Kageyama were out running errands together and Hinata wanted to get them done as quickly as possible.

Which in turn led to now.

A tall blonde in glasses was glaring down at him while the shorter teen next to him said,

“Oh come on Tsukki, I’m sure he didn’t mean to bump into you!” The teen had short black hair and freckles. “You didn’t mean to right?” He said with a friendly smile.

“No!” Hinata pouted, “it was an accident”

The other seemed satisfied “see Tsukki? It’s fine”

The tall one ‘Tsukki’, glared at his companion (friend?) and said “shut up Yamaguchi”

“Sorry Tsukki” ‘Yamaguchi’ said with a small smile.

Kageyama, who was at Hinata’s side looked at them in mild confusion.

“Oh! Right!” ‘Yamaguchi’ exclaimed suddenly, turning to them. “I’m Yamaguchi Tadashi and this is Tsukishima Kei, it’s wonderful to meet you”

Hinata was a bit startled, how could this cheerful and friendly person be friends with the angry and intimidating blonde? They were basically total opposites!

“I’m Kageyama Tobio and this idiot is Hinata Shoyo” Kageyama said, apparently realizing Hinata wasn’t saying anything.

He remembered where he was and beamed, “Nice to meet you” he said sunnily.

Yamaguchi smiled at him while Tsukishima gave a reluctant grunt of acknowledgement.

Hinata opened his mouth to say something before a tv in the corner of the market flickered on. 

_ “Welcome, to all of Panem. Today the hunger games begin! Are you excited!?” _

…Silence rang out in the square.

_ “The tributes are about to enter the arena. While they prepare let us look at each tribute and what they have done so far. We begin with district 1. Inuoka Sou. He…” _

Hinata zoned out, barely hearing anything but aware words were being said. 

_ “Kozume Kenma. He has stunned us several time during the pre-games and is a candidate to win the hunger games. He scored a 12 on the threat assessments and I don’t believe anyone has forgotten his interview” _

The presenter chuckled, as if everyone didn’t know the Capitol was still furious about it.

_ “Aone Takanobu…” _

Hinata stopped listening, instead focusing on calming the dread rapidly building in his stomach. Kenma… The games were beginning today. Kenma could die. The air of tension around him must have been felt because Kageyama’s hand slipped hesitantly into his own and squeezed softly while still looking ahead with a completely blank face. 

“Thanks” he whispered to his friend.

Kageyama glared at him in warning. “For what, you idiot?”

Hinata let out a squawk of indignation. “Geez Kageyama, so mean”

He saw Kageyama open his mouth to retort before being cut off by the tv.

_ “The tributes are now entering the arena!” _

The tv cut from the presenter to a shot of the arena. There was the cornucopia in the middle surrounded by rocks. There were strips of stone than cut through, dividing the surrounding area into 12 sections, each with 2 pedestals for tributes. Between the rocks was water, it was almost like a lake with the beach surrounding it.

The camera panned over the area, showing all the tributes standing on the pedestals, all wearing their suits. Each one had a different expression, some were scared, some determined. 

But all of them were there.

All 24 people- no, _kids-_ were in the hunger games, awaiting a terrible fate.

A countdown began.

_ Tick. Tock. Tick. Tock. _

Count down until the clock runs out.

Waste time until there is none left.

_ “5” _

Tick.

_ “4.” _

Tock.

_ “3.” _

Tick.

_ “2.” _

Tock.

_ “1.” _

Oh.

Time’s run out.

Hinata could hear his heartbeat in his throat and his hand tighten on Kageyama’s (probably to the point of pain) as he watched Kenma gasping for air on the platform before sinking into the waves. His head was under for a truly _alarming_ amount of time before jerking out of the water for a gasping breath that had Hinata wincing.

The short teen couldn’t watch and buried his head into Kageyama’s shoulder. He could feel tears starting to stream down his cheeks. 

Kenma looked so afraid… 

He was just a kid, all of them in that arena were. Hell, so was Hinata. They were all just kids.

“This is my fault” Hinata murmured into Kageyama’s sleeve. “He volunteered for _me.”_

Kageyama didn’t say anything, how could he? Instead Hinata just felt his arm wrap around his shoulders and tug him into a hug.

“I just wish I could _do_ something”

Hinata felt a hesitant tap on his shoulder. He glared out at the person making him emerge from his bubble before startling. It was Yamaguchi. He forgot he and Tsukishima were there.

“I… uh. I heard you say you wanted to help.” Yamaguchi said softly, with an empathetic expression.

“Y-yeah?” He said shakily. “Why? Do- do you…?” he trained off.

Tsukishima looked ashen and whispered “I don’t think we are meant to be recruiting now Yamaguchi”

“Shush Tsukki. If he wants to help then… we should let him.” The teen said to his friend.

“What do you mean?” Kageyama said stiffly, arms tightening around Hinata protectively (he would be lying if he said he didn’t feel safer with Kageyama here).

Yamaguchi’s expression changed. He _smiled._

__

“Have you ever heard of district 13?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Do I hear future plot points? ;)  
> (Yeah this will be important in the future so keep it in mind lol)
> 
> I hope y'all enjoyed this chapter, next one should be up wednesday/thursday.  
> Have a lovely week everyone! <3


	18. Revenge is served cold, but the hell waiting for you is boiling

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Oikawa has too much time to think.  
> Ushijima and Tendou have a cute moment.  
> Kenma doesn't like the silence.  
> And Daichi and Suga run into someone.

It was dawn, a new day. Sunrise was often a symbol for a new chance, a way to start again.

So why did Oikawa still feel guilty?

Why did Yamamoto’s limp form and Kenma’s stark grief still haunt him.

He was a career. This was what he was _supposed_ to do. Kill without remorse and win.

That was his _job._

So, why. Couldn’t. He. Move. On.

_Because you are human. You feel remorse._

Oikawa nearly scoffed at the little voice in his head. Please. Any shred of him that had been human had shriveled up and _died_ yesterday. Anything that could have _possibly_ redeemed him in anyone’s eyes was long, _long_ gone.

His feet were numb, and his hands hurt from gripping each other so tightly. He decided that he didn’t like being on watch, especially during the night. There was too much time. Time to himself, time to _think,_ time to _regret._

Oh how easy it was, to say he didn’t care. To smile at Iwaizumi and to put on an unsympathetic pout when facing Kuroo, Bokuto, and Akaashi (who had all been avoiding him like the plague but still shot death glares). It was so, _so_ easy to put on a mask and hide any sign of regret, of remorse, of anything that could have made him human.

He was just a toy after all.

Just here for amusement and entertainment. Soon to be thrown out and cast away, either through being killed or through the capitol just getting _bored._

It didn’t matter. It _didn’t_ matter.

So why did it matter?

“Oikawa!” Kuroo hissed. “It’s my turn on watch”

He got up with a small smirk that stretched his face far too wide. “Of course, I need my beauty sleep after all.”

Oikawa didn’t wait to hear the other careers reply, he simply walked away ~~like he did with all his problems~~ back to the selection of sleeping bags on the ground, all with one of them inside. Bokuto and Akaashi were snuggled up together ‘for warmth’ they had claimed when falling asleep together. Terushima was off on his own, huddled tightly, trying to preserve heat. Kuroo’s was beside Bokuto and Akaashi’s, empty and messy. Ushijima wasn’t in a sleeping bag, he was sitting up, back slumped against the wall, one arm loosely around Tendou, who was tucked into his side with his head on Ushijima’s shoulder. It would have been cute if he hadn’t seen the way the pair had brutally killed a tribute in the first minute of the games.

Iwaizumi was curled up alone in a larger sleeping bag, one meant for two. Oikawa was all too happy to lie down in the cocoon and sink into his boyfriend’s arms. He didn’t like being alone. It gave him too much time to think and wonder.

Oikawa snuggled deeper into Iwaizumi’s side. Maybe like this he could get some sleep.

He doubted it.

~*~

Kenma liked being alone. People were tiring, boring and annoyed him. The silence of being alone was comforting, like a blanket. There was nobody to impress or judge him. There was just him and his thoughts.

But he didn’t like this silence.

It was deafening. He felt his skin crawling and the rough ground tearing at his willpower. Kenma wanted to run back to the reluctant safety of his cave but he had to go on. He had to get further from the cornucopia and the careers. He was an _idiot_ for thinking he could find Kuroo. He shouldn’t have thought he could. They were the delusions of an exhausted fool.

_That’s not true, you want to see Kuroo, Bokuto and Akaashi but you think you’ll just be a burden and cause trouble-_

Delusions. Kenma resolutely ignored the voice in his head that he had the sneaking suspicion was right.

He walked through the forest and let the silence wash over him, trying to find solace in the ~~deadly~~ nice quiet. He couldn’t hear birds chirping, there was no rustling of leaves in the wind. Such things didn’t exist in the arena. Everything was designed to be ominous, tense and to set off the nerves of tributes.

It worked.

Kenma was on high alert, his senses all working overtime and thus setting him off at the slightest hint of sound.

He felt the heat and humidity of the forest closing around him, he felt suffocated with the heavy air surrounding him. He couldn’t help but gasp in relief as he saw his goal in his line of sight.

The desert.

It would be hot, and he would need lots of water, but he could make it. He had to believe that. But for now he was left pondering on how he could find or make something resembling a bottle to get water.

He looked around the forest and sighed. Time to start looking.

~*~

Tendou woke up groggily which was strange. Normally he was pretty alert in the mornings unless he was _really_ comfortable, which didn’t happen often in district 11. Actually… where was- oh. Ushijima’s arm was loosely around him and he was tucked into his friends side.

_Geez, no wonder he didn’t want to get up._

Tendou quickly squashed that thought and considered just leaving Ushijima asleep (and maybe just going back to sleep himself) but his best friend mumbled good morning and slowly opened his eyes.

“Good morning Wakatoshi! Might I say you make a wonderful pillow”

Ushijima smirked slightly. “Why thank you Satori”

“If you could get up lovebirds,” interrupted Oikawa’s voice. “we have stuff to do.”

Tendou didn’t say anything but Ushijima growled at Oikawa and tightened his arm around Tendou and (purposefully??) pulled him closer. Tendou was perfectly content to stay in Ushijima’s arms forever and watch in amusement as the district 4 tribute’s face scrunched up in annoyance however this was the hunger games and they _did_ have stuff to do.

He reluctantly removed Ushijima’s arm from around his waist and slunk to his feet. He reached out to his friend and pulled him up as well before following Oikawa out of the cornucopia and onto the rocks, where all the others in their tentative alliance were standing.

And if he just so happened to not let go of Ushijima’s hand that was nobody else’s business.

~*~

Suga was a pretty chill person. He didn’t get upset easily, he just kind of went with what happened. You know? Just rolling with it.

5 cannons. There had been five cannons yesterday.

5 people that had been alive 24 hours ago were now dead, probably all lying on that beach, never to find peace. Only to be remembered as ‘sacrifices to the greater good.’

But it was fine. It was all good.

Just… what if that was him soon. What if he was going to be lying dead in a few days? Or even hours? What if- what if Daichi died? What would he do?

“Suga, I can hear you thinking from over here” Daichi’s soothing voice washed over him as his boyfriend took his hand and interlaced their fingers.

He gave a weak smile. “Sorry, I just…” he trailed off.

“You don’t need to explain” Daichi replied softly. “But I’m here for you”

Suga felt something in him soften. “I know, I love you for that”

Daichi smiled softly “I love you too”

He squeezed his boyfriends hand and waited for Daichi too squeeze back but he realized Daichi had paused.

“Daichi?” He asked.

His boyfriend made a ‘stay quiet’ gesture and looked around.

Suga stood perfectly still and began to hear what Daichi did.

Footsteps.

~*~

Kenma was getting annoyed, fast. There was nothing he could use as a bottle or any sharp stones he could use to carve something, and he didn’t want to be in the forest for much longer. If he stayed here he would probably get caught by the careers and he didn’t think Kuroo, Bokuto and Akaashi could sway the rest of the careers to leave him alive.

So that is why he was here, trudging around the forest in the hopes of finding anything useful.

It wasn’t going well.

Either way, he needed to start heading back to his makeshift camp and refresh and eat something, he wouldn’t survive long if he didn’t stay hydrated and fed.

As he was walking through the forest, still careful to keep his steps light as possible despite the tiredness starting to weigh on him he suddenly felt alert. The prickle of people watching him tickled his skin and he stilled.

He wasn’t alone.

Kenna looked around and pulled the blade from his belt out. The eerie silence seemed to crawl along his skin and the pristine terrain was far too still until someone familiar spoke.

“Kenma?” Suga’s voice rang out in the forest.


	19. Karma's a bitch and she's come to collect

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ish happens

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this chapter took a while, it's longer than normal so I hope you enjoy <3

“Kenma?” Suga’s voice rang out in the forest.  
~*~  
Suga watched as Kenma’s eyes widened before he began sprinting away from them, deeper into the forest.  
“Daichi! We have to follow him” Suga exclaimed, looking to his boyfriend.  
“Suga…” Daichi said slowly. “we don’t know if he is leading us into a trap or something, he got a 12 for a reason you know.”  
The silver-haired teen frowned. “Yeah, but we should help him. He looked really scared!”  
Daichi let out a sigh “I know I can’t stop you and I won’t try to. I know you want to help him, and I love you for that, but we need to be careful ok?”  
Suga beamed, “of course!”  
“Ok, if we want to catch up to him we should start running” Daichi pointed out.  
“Oh! Right come on then” Suga said as he began running into the greenery.  
~*~  
Kenma was pressed up against a tree, he couldn’t hear Daichi and Suga’s footsteps, but he wasn’t going to risk it. He listened carefully. If he strained his ears he could hear the vague voices. So it didn’t seem like they were chasing him.  
Then began the pounding of feet on leaves.  
Crap.  
He began running. Dammit. Why were they chasing him? He just wanted to exist peacefully and find his boyfriend. He didn’t want to fight anyone. Kenma could feel his heartbeat in his throat and anxiety clawing at his chest. He had to run.   
Kenma could barely see 2 feet in front of him as he sprinted away. He blindly crashed through bushes, barely avoiding low hanging branches. Exhaustion started to claw at him. Damn his low stamina.   
“Kenma wait!” Suga’s voice called, sounding alarmingly close.  
“We don’t want to hurt you!” Daichi yelled.  
Kenma didn’t stop running. He had to escape; he couldn’t stop. They were lying. They were going to kill him. They were going to-  
He stopped.  
A large ditch was in front of him, so large he could barely call it a ditch. It was more like a cliff.  
He was gasping for air as he desperately tried to look for a safe way down before the district 6 tributes arrived.  
“Kenma?”  
Too late.  
“D-don’t come any closer” he stuttered slightly, while trying to shuffle back. He had to find a way out, he had to find Kuroo. He couldn’t die here; he couldn’t let his friends down.  
“We don’t want to hurt you Kenma! We want to help” Suga said desperately, in a placating tone.  
Something in Kenma’s mind tried to tell him that Suga was nice, didn’t want to hurt him but he couldn’t help the surge of fear that washed it out. He felt frozen but deep down a little voice whispered to put some faith in the kind pair.   
“What do you mean?” he said hesitantly, eyes still darting around.  
“We mean,” Daichi said, giving him a small, friendly smile. “That we want to make an alliance.”  
~*~  
“Hey Akaashi?” Bokuto called out.  
The raven-haired teen turned “yeah?”  
Bokuto fiddled with the rim of his belt nervously “um… I don’t know, I just- I’m worried”  
Akaashi looked at him fully, taking his words at face value. “Ok, about what?”  
He couldn’t express how grateful he was that Akaashi took him seriously. “Kenma, Kuroo,” he hesitated before adding, “you.”  
His friend softened, “I get it but there isn’t much we can do except be there for Kuroo and do our best to keep the others away from Kenma.”  
Bokuto nodded, “Yeah, I know but that doesn’t make it any easier to know…” he trailed off.  
“know what?” Akaashi asked, pressing softly for an answer.  
“’Kaashi… only one person can win.”  
The raven-haired teen’s eyes creased sadly, and his brows furrowed slightly. “I know. I also know that if you are going, I’m going with you”  
Bokuto’s heart shattered a bit more with each word. “I- I can’t live without you ‘Kaashi”  
Akaashi pulled him into a hug and rested their foreheads together. “Me either” he whispered before continuing with a bitter laugh “Luckily for us, I don’t think we’ll have to.”  
He nodded slightly before saying softly but with determination, “’Kaashi… one of them has to win.”  
Akaashi nodded. “I know, and we’ll make sure of it.”  
“Ok.”  
“Ok.”   
If Bokuto then pulled away from the hug to head to the other careers that wasn’t anyone else’s business. It also wasn’t anyone else’s business if he didn’t let go of Akaashi’s hand.  
~*~  
Ushijima wasn’t an emotional person. He was blunt and didn’t ‘get’ emotions like other people did. This meant that he didn’t really get along with most people and didn’t have many friends. People respected him sure, but brute strength and a dedication to raising his crops well didn’t mean that he was invited out to eat with others that worked in the same field.   
Until Tendou Satori.  
The red-haired teen was an enigma in every sense of the word. He was loud and boisterous but also very observant. He could speak for hours on end about himself without ever actually telling anyone his name, age, or anything about him. He was tall and intimidating and nearly everyone avoided him like the plague.  
He was also nice.   
There was a kid a few years younger than Ushijima in the field called Goshiki. He was pretty sure Goshiki didn’t like him because he was always directing a piercing glance toward him and didn’t approach him, appearing startled whenever they talked.   
It also just so happened that Goshiki was friends with Tendou.  
Ushijima distinctly remembers the day Tendou had hopped the fence and come into the field. He was carrying some wood to the outer edges of the farm where Goshiki was standing, watering some plants when he had seen the red head talking to the dark-haired teen.  
He put down the wood and approached the two teens that were chatting, Goshiki with a fondly annoyed expression and Tendou with a gleeful grin. Goshiki had noticed him coming and immediately his expression became closed off. Tendou noticed this and had turned to find the source of his friends attention and finding Ushijima standing there.  
He remembers the way Tendou looked him up and down and stared at him for a moment before he broke out into a smile and enthusiastically introduced himself.  
“Hi! I’m Tendou Satori”  
Ushijima had been very confused but regardless had said “Ushijima Wakatoshi”  
“Well Ushijima, I hope we can be friends!” The redhead said brightly.  
Ushijima didn’t remember much else that happened that day, but he remembers saying for no particular reason,  
“I do as well.”  
Later he would recognise this as the best decision he ever made.  
“Hey Wakatoshi!” Called the very redhead that plagued his mind.  
Ushijima turned to his friend and smiled slightly “Hello Satori.”  
The other teen grinned at him and said “Oikawa and Iwaizumi are off doing something, probably making out; and the dynamic trio is searching the woods for any other tributes. Oh! And Terushima is working on a water purification system.”  
“Ok. What do we need to do?” Ushijima said, not one to sit around.  
Tendou smirked. “We’re on guard duty!”  
Ushijima replied wryly (though to anyone else it would sound serious), “Oh, good.”  
The redhead caught on to his sarcasm and said in a sickly-sweet cheerful tone that sounded almost real “Come on, let’s go!”  
He chuckled and followed his friend who was walking out of the cornucopia onto the rocks surrounding it. Tendou sat down on the edge, dipping his feet into the water and kicking them slightly, making small ripples in the otherwise pristine lake. Ushijima sat down next to him cross-legged and looked out onto the beach, taking his sword out of his belt and laying it beside him.   
“So… what now?” Tendou asked after not even 10 seconds of sitting in silence.   
Ushijima didn’t mind the quiet, but he knew Tendou didn’t always like having nothing to do. He wasn’t surprised the tense atmosphere of the games was setting him off.  
“We could try skipping stones?” he suggested, seeing a few flat stones among the rocks of the cornucopia.  
Tendou immediately perked up. “Yes! I bet you I can skip it more times” the redhead’s competitive nature easily emerging.  
Ushijima let a bit of his own slip onto his face. “I’m willing to take that bet.”  
Tendou beamed at him and handed him a thin round stone before skipping one of his own. “Hah! I got 4!”  
The olive-haired teen kept a passive look on his face before skipping his stone 7 times. The way Tendou’s jaw dropped was worth it.  
“What?! You have to be cheating!”  
Ushijima raised a sceptical eyebrow. “I don’t think you can cheat when skipping stones.”  
The other teen had an outraged look on his face but there was mirth dancing in his eyes. “Yeah well you did!”   
Ushijima chuckled but abruptly stopped, motioning for Tendou to be quiet as well.  
There were approaching footsteps, purposefully light as if trying not to alert them.   
The careers wouldn’t do that so…  
Tendou’s eyes widened as he realized the same thing he did.  
They weren’t alone.  
Ushijima carefully lifted his blade from the ground, careful to stay silent. Tendou caught his eye and nodded to the left. They both got up and pressed against the wall of the cornucopia, listening as the footsteps slowly got louder.  
Until they were almost right next to them.  
Tendou leapt from his side and spun around the corner, knocking over whichever tribute it was before shifting so Ushijima could get on top of them and press his sword to their throat.   
A relatively tall teen with light brown hair glared up at him.  
“You’re… Matsushima right?” Tendou asked, voice half curious, half deadly.  
The teen (Matsushima apparently?) glared at both of them.  
“Oh!” The redhead at Ushijima’s side seemed to realize something. “Akiu was your teammate”  
Matsushima snarled. “Don’t. Don’t speak about my teammate. You killed him!”  
Ushijima suddenly understood. This was revenge.  
Tendou nodded slightly. “I respect that you want to avenge your friend but- “  
The teen under Ushijima hissed “you don’t know anything about me!”  
Everything seemed to slow down as Matsushima’s hand, that Ushijima thought was secured under his leg slid free and in it was a blade he hadn’t seen. The teen’s hand flew up to stab Tendou (who had been leaning over him) in the stomach.  
Matsushima was dead in an instant.  
Ushijima looked passively down at the body, his hand still pressing the sword further into the teens bleeding throat. Tendou looked down unsympathetically at the corpse on the ground.  
“He’ll be with Akiu now”  
A cannon rang out over the arena.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey folks! How are y'all doing?  
> I hope you enjoyed this chapter cause it might be the last for a little while.  
> I'm going to be going on a 2 week hiatus to deal with some ish going on and to help me find more inspiration and motivation. To be clear! I have NO plans of discontinuing this story. Catalyst is going to be finished if it kills me. I'm just taking a break.  
> Now, that being said, I hope y'all have a wonderful day/night and I'll see you in a little while.  
> Love y'all <3<3


	20. Satan is recruiting and he wants you

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Guess who's back folks!
> 
> I'm here, queer and I'm very excited for y'all to read this chapter. It's one of my favorites and I really enjoyed writing it. I'm doing better mentally and emotionally and I've gotten out of my writers block so yeah that's good.
> 
> Hope y'all enjoy this chapter <3<3

Kenma slowly opened his eyes and began to push himself up before sinking back down into the sleeping bag.

Wait, sleeping bag?

“Good morning Kenma”

Daichi’s voice reached his ears and he quickly remembered. He was with Suga and Daichi now, in an alliance. He vaguely remembered seeing the pair leave the cornucopia with a backpack that apparently had some sleeping bags in it. Light shone through his eyelids and he groaned. What time was it? Did he really have to get up right now? The other teen chuckled and sounded a lot closer so Kenma reluctantly opened his eyes.

Daichi was sitting a few feet away on a log, using a stone to chip away at the top of a long, thin stick, shaping it into something resembling a spear. Kenma quickly realized Suga was nowhere to be seen.

“Where is- “

Kenma was cut off by the rustling of fabric a few meters away and looked to see Suga burying himself deeper in his sleeping bag.

“I don’t wanna get up yet” The silver-haired teen whined.

He couldn’t help the small smile that quirked his lips as he watched the normally energetic teen act so childishly. Kenma then pushed himself up onto his elbows before sitting up cross-legged. Daichi came over to pull him to his feet and Kenma nodded gratefully before the dark-haired teen walked to start the long task of waking Suga. Kenma wandered over to the edge of their makeshift camp. It was a little indent in the ground surrounded by thick trees and bushes. You wouldn’t be able to see it from far away and even up close you’d have to know what to look for.

It was perfect.

Almost.

It was still in the forest and that meant the careers could still find them. Kenma wanted to see Kuroo, Bokuto, and Akaashi so badly. He really did.

_But Oikawa tried to kill him._

_But Iwaizumi would defend himself and Oikawa at all costs._

_But Terushima had threatened him in the past._

_But Ushijima would be able to overpower him so easily._

_But Tendou would feel no remorse for killing him._

Kenma heard himself distantly saying to Daichi he would be back in a moment before he crouched under one of the bushes and left the campsite. He looked at the forest surrounding him and sunk into contemplation.

Kenma wasn’t a brave person. He was paranoid and afraid constantly. The anxiety that had been curling in his stomach since the games began was coiled like a snake around his heart, ready to bite into it with venomous ferocity at any moment.

But he didn’t want to be scared. He didn’t want to have the ever-looming threat of panic at the slightest disturbance.

Kenma wanted to be brave.

He ducked back into the camp where Daichi was pulling Suga to his feet out of the sleeping bag (Suga was _not_ going willingly).

“Get up and let’s get going” Kenma said determinedly.

Daichi turned to him startled, dropping Suga in the process. “Huh? Where?”

“We’re going to the cornucopia”

~*~

Terushima wasn’t an orderly person. He wasn’t one to stick to rules and the ‘proper way’ of doing things. In fact he was something of a chaos incarnate. At least, so he was told.

There wasn’t a lot of order in district 3, there wasn’t a lot of order in any of the districts really. Terushima wasn’t an orderly person, but he respected what it represented.

It represented peace, safety; it represented security. Beyond that though, to Terushima it represented Misaki. His sweet partner and friend who always tried to keep to a schedule and stay organized.

But now Misaki was gone, and any sense of safety he might have had was too.

Terushima saw Tendou approaching and slid off the roof of the cornucopia. Tendou was stalking over the mysterious blood patch that had appeared yesterday that he and his (boy?)friend hadn’t cared to explain. The redhead didn’t seem different apart from the emeici adorning his fingers. The thin blades attached to detachable rings looked far too much like claws for Terushima’s liking. Tendou had been wearing them when Terushima and the rest of the careers got back to the cornucopia, not answering any of the questions as to why he suddenly had a weapon. Ignoring the other tribute he huffed a sigh and began walking back to the other careers who were discussing. Terushima didn’t really like guard duty, it was boring, and he had nothing to distract him. Hopefully the conversation would be more interesting.

…

He almost convinced himself.

Terushima knew in his heart of hearts that he would just end up on the side lines again, 8th wheeling to the 2 couples and 3 friends. He was tired of it. Terushima could take a lot but being reminded about how alone he was pushed him over the edge.

“I’m going to go for a walk.” He said to Tendou, before stalking off to the beach.

Maybe there he could clear his head…

~*~

Oikawa tried to hide his growing discomfort as the careers (and Ushijima since Tendou was on watch and Terushima was… somewhere) argued about their next move.

“We need to go and search for the other tributes” Kuroo said like he didn’t just want to find his boyfriend.

“Kuroo, as much as I hate to admit it, is right. We cannot just stay at the cornucopia and wait this out” Akaashi said, trying to add some reason to his friends statement.

Bokuto vigorously nodded “Yeah! Just because someone showed up here yesterday doesn’t mean everyone is going to try and get to the cornucopia.”

Ushijima frowned, “We shouldn’t sit back and wait for them to come to us. If we give them time to prepare they will stand a better chance against us.”

Oikawa could see the logic in their points, for all intents and purposes gearing up and leaving the cornucopia was a good idea but…  
That would mean potentially seeing Kenma again or killing someone else.

“No. We aren’t leaving.” Oikawa said softly, but fiercely.

Everyone heard him and turned to him with piercing gazes.

Kuroo looked annoyed, “why not?”

Oikawa could barely speak but tried to keep a straight face. “I…”

The black-haired teen got more irritated with his lack of response. “WHY SHOULDN’T I FIND MY BOYFRIEND?” Kuroo yelled, trying to blink away the bright tears in his eyes, just barely managing, clearly daring Oikawa to disagree.

Oikawa’s control slipped. 

“God,” he said, sliding his hand across his face. “You think I don’t regret it? You think I don’t TORTURE myself for trying to kill him? I don’t sleep because I can’t. Even when I do sleep I wake up to Yamamoto screaming. I have spent every minute trying to tell myself killing is just ‘part of the games’ BUT THEY AREN’T! They aren’t...” Oikawa knew tears were slipping down his cheeks, but he couldn’t stop now. “Fuck- Kenma was right. We aren’t tributes; we are people. Except maybe I’m not. I- God. I KNOW I am a fucking monster, but maybe I feel regret, maybe, just _maybe_ I am a little bit human too.”

Everyone was staring at him in shock and Kuroo’s rage was quickly dissipating.

“I- I need air” Oikawa said before sprinting out of the cornucopia and stood on the rocks, staring out onto to the beach.

“Tooru?” Iwaizumi’s voice washed over him like a calming wave.

“Hajime” he breathed, turning to his boyfriend, who was watching him with soft concern.

Iwaizumi approached him slowly, waiting for any sign of hesitation and when he found none slowly slipped his hand into Oikawa’s and pulled him into a hug.

“Are you ok?”

Oikawa buried his head in Iwaizumi’s shoulder mumbled “I don’t know”

Iwaizumi hesitated for a moment before saying softly “Tooru I have to tell you- “

The dark-haired teen was cut off by a scream coming from the forest.

Oikawa was running to the beach before he knew it.

~*~

“Why are we going to the cornucopia again?” Daichi asked.

“Like I said before, we need to get supplies to cross the desert. I’m fine if you two don’t want to come but I’m going.” Kenma said resolutely.

“And like _I_ said before, we are in an alliance now. We aren’t going to leave you” Suga replied with equal determination.

Kenma didn’t say anything but Suga’s words did make something in him warm. He realized how grateful he was for the pair, they welcomed him readily and he never felt like a third wheel despite their lovey-dovey natures. Kenma thought it would be strange to be in an alliance with a couple, but it didn’t bother him. They were sweet to each other and acted like a cliché sappy couple, but it somehow suit them. Kenma couldn’t imagine them any other way and the soft smiles they shared didn’t make him uncomfortable, if anything they just made him happy and more determined to find his own boyfriend.

There was a nice silence between them, nothing like the eerie emptiness when Kenma had been on his own. Now the forest seemed a little more pleasant and he could appreciate the greenery.

“Wait!” Suga suddenly exclaimed, breaking the picturesque scene. “I recognize that tree, we are nearly out of the forest!” the silver haired teen pointed to a very large tree with vines curling around it that stood stark against the rest of the leaves.

Kenma felt _something_ bubble up in his gut. He couldn’t quite name it, but it was somewhere between caution, excitement, and fear. Adrenaline, he supposed, was the closest word to it.

The blonde teen put his hand against the tree in question and said. “Ok. We need to approach quietly; we don’t want the careers to notice us- “

“Uh oh” A cheerful voice called out. “I guess it’s too late for that”

Fear curled in Kenma’s gut as he turned to an all too familiar teen standing behind them holding a scythe over his shoulder.

Terushima smirked at him, “Hey Kitten.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So...  
> That is the end of the chapter. I hope y'all enjoyed. If you did, please leave comments and kudos because they really do make my day.  
> Hope everyone has a wonderful day/night, I'll see you next time <3<3


	21. Peace, what a funny concept

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Terushima, and an unexpected ally.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ahhh!!!  
> Sorry for this chapter being so late! Life has been hectic at the moment but I'm going to try keep posting this semi-consistently!
> 
> Hope you are all having wonderful days and if not, I hope this chapter makes it a little bit better <3

_ “Ok. We need to approach quietly; we don’t want the careers to- “ _

_ “Uh oh” A cheerful voice called out. “I guess it’s too late for that” _

_ Fear curled in Kenma’s gut as he turned to an all too familiar teen standing behind them holding a scythe over his shoulder. _

_ Terushima smirked at him, “Hey Kitten.” _

~*~

Kenma couldn’t ever describe the pure, undulated _dread_ he felt in that moment. The moment Terushima walked forward, swinging his scythe slightly and grinning with too-white teeth. His hair looked irritatingly perfect in a characteristic ‘bad boy’ style. Kenma heard Suga gasp and Daichi pull his boyfriend back, trying to reach Kenma as well but being too far away.

“KENMA!” Suga cried, pushing against Daichi’s arms.

The blonde appreciated Suga’s concern, but he didn’t care much about himself. He had already resigned himself to dying if Kuroo was the one winning. It was that apathy that let Kenma stand totally still as Terushima came closer, holding the scythe. Kenma slowly pulled his knife out of his belt and held it front of him defensively.

“What are you gonna do with that? Whittle me to death?” Terushima said mockingly, starting to circle him. 

Kenma’s lip curled into a snarl as he raised the blade further.

He may have resigned himself to death, but that didn’t mean he wanted to die.

A moment later his knife was imbedded in Terushima’s chest.

The tall tribute’s free hand went to his stomach, quickly being coated in red. Terushima looked down, in something like shock, as blood spilled over his hand. The bleeding teen lifted his hand, so it was in front of his face as he watched the thick liquid drip slowly onto the grass, staining it red. Light shimmered through the leaves above them and for just a moment the deep red looked like a lovely, bright scarlet. Time was slow as Terushima stared in wonder at the gleaming liquid flowing off his hand and coating his fingers red.

Then, just as quickly as it came, the moment passed as Terushima’s face hardened and his expression closed off.

Even with his strength rapidly fading the increasingly pale teen had been eating better and was stronger than Kenma, and that let him lift his scythe and slowly take a step forward.

“Sorry kitten.” Terushima said, ignoring the knife still in his chest, “But if I’m going down, you’re coming with me”

“No actually.” Came a familiar voice, an _all too familiar_ voice. “He’s not”

Time stopped and Kenma gasped as Oikawa’s trident slid through Terushima’s heart. It took barely a moment, less than a heartbeat, for the light to dim in Terushima’s eyes, for the tribute that had, just moments ago, been ready to kill him, collapse and slide off the trident. Red stained the grass as Oikawa loomed over him, his weapon a gleaming red. 

“Oikawa.” Daichi breathed, in something between shock and horror, still holding tightly to Suga and edging closer to Kenma.

Kenma’s own surprise was fading quickly as his anger took over, seeing the brown-haired tribute was stirring up his memories of Yamamoto. 

“What are you doing here?” he asked harshly, not caring if he sounded brash.

Oikawa didn’t say anything, just looked at him, eyes shining with something. Kenma couldn’t pinpoint it for a moment before he realized. It wasn’t pity, or sympathy. It was guilt, it was sorrow. It was a sincere, wordless apology.

But did Kenma want to accept it?

“KENMA!” Kuroo’s voice shattered the moment in the most perfect way.

The blonde teen looked behind Oikawa, who was silently stepping aside, expression morphing into a harsh blank canvas.

Kuroo stood there, in between two trees, Bokuto and Akaashi at his side, and Ushijima and Tendou a few steps behind and Iwaizumi was already at Oikawa’s side, taking his hand.

Kenma didn’t remember crashing into Kuroo’s awaiting arms, he just felt a sudden rush of safety and a tight grip barring him from the rest of the world. 

“Kuro” He breathed, tucking himself further into the hug.

The dark-haired teen squeezed him tighter “Hi Kenma”

The arms around him loosened and for a moment Kenma was going to pout before Bokuto tugged him into a hug as well. The tall owl-haired teen was hugging him tight enough that Kenma had to wheeze before Akaashi said, “give Kenma some air” before pulling him into an equally tight hug and saying softly,

“we missed you”

Kenma hugged his friend back “I missed you guys as well”

Akaashi released him and Kenma was immediately turning to Kuroo again, who was watching him with a smile.

The blonde teen didn’t know why, but the surge of happiness he got from being back with his boyfriend and friends let him push himself onto his toes and kiss Kuroo, who immediately pulled him back into his arms.

Kenma pulled back and couldn’t help the happy little smile on his face before looking around.

Daichi was gaping, Suga was surprised but beaming and seemed to glow with happiness for the pair (which made Kenma smile slightly), but the careers (and district 11) didn’t seem surprised.

“You told them?” Kenma realised suddenly.

Kuroo’s grin turned sheepish “uh…”

Akaashi came to Kuroo’s aid and replied, “he said it when he went off at Oikawa after… after the bloodbath.” The dark-haired teen avoided any mention of what happened, which Kenma appreciated before the words sunk in.

“Wait,” Kenma said, looking up at Kuroo. “You yelled at Oikawa?”

Kuroo immediately became defensive, “hey I was worried about you and he- “ Kuroo seemed to realize that they were, in fact, in the same area as Oikawa and turned to him, eyes flashing slightly as he released Kenma and stalked forward.

Oikawa was looking down at Terushima’s body, not with contempt, nor emotionlessly like Kenma expected, but with sorrow.

“What happened here? What did you do?” Kuroo hissed, staying in front of Kenma the whole time.

Kenma loved Kuroo, he really did, but he couldn’t help the rush of annoyance at Kuroo immediately attacking Oikawa.

“Don’t.” He said, looking at Oikawa, who was directing a startled stare at him. “He didn’t hurt me. He saved me.”

Kenma had decided. He would accept Oikawa’s apology.

Not fully, never fully. He didn’t think he could ever forgive the death of Yamamoto. He did however recognize that Oikawa regretted it, and that, at least, was a start.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yeah... I don't think Kenma will ever fully accept Yamamoto's death, Tbh I don't either even though I wrote it, but I do also feel like Oikawa's genuine remorse and realization that murder is, in fact, wrong is what made Kenma give him a chance.
> 
> Anyway, if you enjoyed this chapter, please leave comments and kudos, they make my day. I hope you all have a wonderful week and I'll see y'all next time <3


	22. Bitterness is all to easy a pill to swallow

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey folks! Sorry this has taken a while but I'll talk about that more in the end notes.   
> Hope y'all enjoy this chapter!

Dawn brought a new day.

And new problems.

Kenma was on watch, sitting on the rocks around the cornucopia with his legs pulled up against his chest. His arms were wrapped around himself as he glared out at the water.

The lake was serene and beautiful, the water was glimmering in the rising sunlight. There were vague shapes of mountains surrounding them, Kenma figured the arena was a bunch of different biomes, the centre being the lake and the outer area being mountains. The sun rose slowly over the snowy peaks and he couldn’t help the flare of irritation that rose in him.

_ Why  _ did the Capitol feel the need to make the arena pretty? Why did they try to make the games into some kind of beautiful tragedy? Was it all to reinforce the ‘pageant of glory’ cover or was it just to enthral the Capitol people that watched it. Treat it like the precious city itself, beautiful to hide the darkness behind the dainty façade.

Knowing the Capitol, probably both.

Kenma heaved a sigh. Everything was so _complicated._ He remembered thinking that it was all so simple before, you went to the games, you died. Simple as that. And it was, it was that simple. But… at the same time it wasn’t.

Because he wanted to live, with Kuroo and Akaashi and Bokuto and Daichi and Suga (and everyone else too he supposed). He didn’t want anyone else to die… but they couldn’t all win. Kuroo _had_ to win. But Akaashi and Bokuto couldn’t die. But Daichi and Suga deserved to live. But Oikawa and Iwaizumi were in love and just wanted a peaceful life together. But Tendou and Ushijima were practically joined at the hip and no matter how Kenma felt about them he couldn’t wish for two people that cared about each other that much to die. And not just them, all the tributes Kenma didn’t know were still out there, all just trying to survive. Nobody wanted this, for themselves or for anyone else.

It just wasn’t _fair._

But then again, what really was?

Kenma’s bitter laugh echoed over the water. What really was fair? Death sure wasn’t, and Kenma would be damned to hell if life was. Either option was just as bad as the other but there wasn’t really much they could do about that.

Somehow even more unfair than life and death was time. Training had gone all too quickly and so had the past couple of days in the games. Time was slowly slipping away from Kenma’s hands. Time with his friends. Time with Kuroo. Time to _grieve._

He inhaled sharply. Grief. It was slowly starting to tear at him, waiting until the perfect moment to strike.

Now was apparently a good time.

Kenma let out a shaky breath as he remembered Yamamoto’s face, rapidly paling and his voice, shaky and weak. He remembered that the last thing he said to Kenma. _“Run”._ Why were Yamamoto’s last words essentially telling him he had to live, when he knew Kenma couldn’t? That he wouldn’t outlive his boyfriend.

Why wasn’t it fair?

The blonde knew, deep down, that there was no answer to these questions. That life simply was this way. He _knew_ that. So he gave himself 3 seconds to be sad. 

_ 3. _

Grief for any innocence he had being shattered when he killed Kindaichi, when Yamamoto and Terushima were killed in front of him.

_ 2. _

Grief for all the people that were dead.

_ 1. _

And grief for all the people that would die.

_ 0. _

“Kenma!” Bokuto’s voice called, “You can go back to bed now, it’s my turn on watch.”

A beat of silence.

“Ok thanks” Kenma smiled.

_ There would be no more grief. _

~*~

Tendou was awake, but he kept his eyes closed, not quite ready to get out of bed. (‘bed’ meaning tucked against Ushijima.)

It was easy to live in the moment. It was so, so simple to always look to the future and never look back.

Because Tendou didn’t see the point in regret. If you make a mistake, fix it. But never, _never_ regret the mistake you made. Because every little thing you’ve done wrong will teach you something. The action may have been wrong, morally or otherwise, but it was still a teaching moment. And why should you regret it?

Guilt was useless, it just weighed you down and made you sad. Tendou knew that if he let himself feel guilt he would drown in it. And ultimately that would hurt him. 

So Tendou didn’t stop, didn’t take a moment to think about the consequences of his actions, just to reflect and make changes, never to feel remorse.

The redhead opened his eyes and slowly got up, careful to not wake Ushijima. He walked out of the cornucopia and stood on the rocks, looking out to the beach, ignoring the bloodstain beneath his feet.

Because Tendou didn’t see the point in regret.

~*~

Kenma reached out and grabbed another knife from the rack and slid it into his belt. If nothing else he was glad the cornucopia had pretty much every weapon you could ever think of.

“Hey Kenma?” A voice called out softly.

The blonde spun quickly to see Oikawa standing at the mouth of the cornucopia.

“Can we talk?” The other teen asked.

“Sure” Kenma turned back to the knife rack, a subtle display of trust that Oikawa wouldn’t stab him in the back, hoping he wasn't wrong.

Oikawa was silent for a moment before speaking “Kenma I’m sorry. It- It doesn’t really change anything or make it better, but I am sorry. I only saw you as a threat, not as a person that had just as much a right to be alive as I do. I forgot what you said at the interviews, I just thought you were a tribute that had to be disposed of so I wouldn’t be.”

Kenma paused to take that in before turning to Oikawa, who was sitting on a box and looking at him sadly.

“Oikawa. As much as I hate to say this, you were just doing what you were taught. Careers are taught to kill and remove any threats, that’s… just how it is. You were fulfilling a role that had been predetermined for you. I would have been a career you know? If I hadn’t been captured by peacekeepers and moved to district 5. I probably would have done the exact same thing; and it’s not like not being a career makes me any better, I killed Kindaichi with very little remorse too. It doesn’t… it doesn’t make it ok. I won’t ever completely forgive you, Yamamoto- Tora… he deserves than that, but I understand why you did it, and I’m willing to put this behind us and try have a better relationship.”

Oikawa looked at him stunned for a moment, processing his words. “Ok… is there anything I can do or…?”

Kenma could see the desperation to do _something_ to make up for it. “Can you back me up?”

“With what?”

He smiled slightly, “give it a second”

“Kenma, Oikawa!” Akaashi’s voice called as he walked in, followed by the rest of their group.

Oikawa looked at him startled “how did you know?”

“What do you need?” Kenma asked, ignoring Oikawa.

Iwaizumi chimed in, “what we _need_ is a plan.”

“Iwaizumi is correct, we cannot just sit here waiting for something to happen.” Ushijima said.

Daichi raised a skeptical eyebrow. “What do you propose?”

Kenma knew this was going to become an argument, the way everyone was slowly tensing up was a clear indication.

“No. We are going to go through the desert, and we are going to go through whatever other biomes are in the arena and we are going to head to the edge.”

Everyone looked at him with varying degrees of confusion, annoyance, and hesitation before everyone burst out with an opinion. Kenma could barely hear anything over the noise.

“GUYS!” Oikawa yelled, effectively shutting everyone up. “Let Kenma speak”

Kenma nodded gratefully to Oikawa and gave him a tiny smile. Everyone else was silent and waiting before Tendou spoke up..

“ _Why_ are we going to the edge of the arena?” Tendou asked, cocking his head.

“Because,” Kenma said, “I have a plan”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey everyone, how are y'all doing?
> 
> I'm not doing too great which is part of the reason this chapter took so long. Life's been pretty hectic recently and my mental health has taken a dive but this story means a lot to me and all your support is so encouraging so I'm going to continue posting and writing this story.
> 
> Having said that however, updates might take a bit longer than normal. I don't know how long exactly that will be but no matter what this story is continuing, just slower.
> 
> Thanks for all the lovely comments and kudos everyone, they make my day better and I am so happy to see there are people enjoying this story so please stick with me during this.
> 
> I hope y'all have lovely days <3<3


	23. Domestic life isn't quite my style, yet here we are

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kind of filler which I don't like but hey it is kind of necessary :/

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yeah, this chapter is a bit of a filler but at the same time it's kind of a uh... soft moment before I hit y'all with some angst (which, since this chapter is short and filler-y I will be posting in a couple of days so there isn't too long a wait.)
> 
> Hope y'all enjoy the chapter~

Kuroo Tetsuro had witnessed a lot of things in his life,

Yet none were quite as strange as the sight of their large group, all trapezing through the desert.

Bokuto and Akaashi were at the front absorbed in whatever conversation they were having (Kuroo and Kenma behind them). Daichi and Suga were in the middle, holding hands and sharing sweet smiles (seriously it would have been sickening but with the kind pair it just seemed adorable). A few steps behind them were Oikawa and Iwaizumi, who were also holding hands while Oikawa made grand gestures with his free arm and seemed to be ranting while Iwaizumi rolled his eyes. Bringing up the rear, about a meter behind everyone else were Ushijima and Tendou, who seemed to be caught up in their own world while Tendou teased his stoic companion.

And of course, there was him and Kenma. 

Kuroo was relishing in the lovely heat and sunlight while Kenma complained and dragged his feet in the sand. Though, Kuroo noticed, his pace didn’t slow despite his apparent hatred for the ‘tiny dust particles of Satan himself’.

All in all, they made for a rather odd group, but Kuroo felt himself enjoying it regardless (he had mostly forgiven Oikawa for nearly killing Kenma and didn’t dislike anyone else).

The peace was interrupted when someone’s stomach let out a loud growl and Kuroo turned to see Iwaizumi flushing slightly while Oikawa grinned mercilessly and opened his mouth, no doubt to make some remark before Daichi interrupted,

“Should we stop for a break? We _have_ been walking most of the day and it’s already around lunchtime.” The teen said, all calm authority.

A series of nods and “sure” echoed through the group and they all stopped walking, settling around a group of large rocks. Suga set down his backpack and reached into it, pulling out some fruit moments later.

After grabbing an apple Kuroo reflected and realized they had been walking for quite a while. Yesterday after Kenma announced he had a plan before walking off, saying that he was going to start packing supplies they had all shared one long glance before shrugging, and walking to help the short teen.

This morning, a little while after dawn, they had set out from the cornucopia. All of them had backpacks, filled with pretty much everything they would need, from food and water to extra weapons and their sleeping bags.

Kenma sat down beside him, also holding an apple and slumped against his side.

“Getting tired kitten?” Kuroo teased.

The blonde glared up at him, not saying anything but taking a slow bite of his apple, somehow making the act judgemental.

He smirked, “How rude of you Kenma”

Light laughter rippled through their ragtag team before a loud boom cut them off.

Kuroo could never mistake that sound. A cannon.

_ Someone else has died. _

There was a tense silence between the group as they all were reminded that they were all in the hunger games.

“Hey!” Tendou’s voice interrupted, trying to remain light. “We should play a game!”

Ushijima looked at his friend in confusion. “why?”

“To pass the time! Anyway~ What should we play?” The redhead said with a forced smile.

Suga piped up with a mischievous grin that didn’t reach his worried eyes. “how about truth or dare?”

A series of hesitant nods made its way around the group and Suga eagerly said he was first.

“Hmm….” The silver-haired teen made a show of looking around before pointing at Kuroo. “You!”

“Me?” Kuroo asked, slightly startled at being chosen first.

Suga grinned at him, “truth or dare?”

Kuroo immediately replied “dare”

“Aww…” Suga pouted. “This kind of relied on you saying truth.”

He heaved a sigh “Fine, truth then.”

The other teen beamed and said, “How did you and Kenma meet?”

Kuroo immediately felt his face burning, and not from the sun, while Kenma immediately perked up next to him and gave a purely _evil_ grin.

“He thought I was a girl and hit on me at the tender age of 5”

Laughs rippled through the group and Kuroo buried his face in Kenma’s shoulder.

“Why do you delight in torturing me Kenma, my sweet baby, my kitten, my cupcake.” He groaned, face still slightly red.

Kenma smirked at him “because it’s fun.”

“Oh you wound me” he said dramatically before pointing to Bokuto. “You, truth or dare?”

Bokuto gave him a determined grin. “Dare!”

Kuroo smiled, slightly sadistically before walking to Bokuto and whispering in his ear, “confess to Akaashi at some point” 

He leaned back and took in Bokuto’s face, rapidly going red before sitting back down and waiting while everyone gave him inquisitive glances.

“It’s a long-term thing, for now, Bokuto it’s your turn”

Akaashi especially was sceptical to accept this but soon forgot as Bokuto then chose to ask Tendou (who said truth) whether or not he and Ushijima were dating.

Tendou smirked “Are we? Are we not? You will never know”, completely disregarding the rules before Ushijima said,

“No. we aren’t.”

The redhead pouted and said “Come on ‘Toshi, let me have my fun”

“I’ll let you have your fun when it obeys the rules of the game” Ushijima replied evenly.

Kuroo really didn’t understand their relationship beyond the fact that they were closer than friends but not dating. _Platonic soulmates? Either way, it’s none of my business I guess._

“Hmm~” Tendou hummed as he looked at everyone, gauging who he could best torment. “Oikawa! Truth or- “

“Dare” Oikawa cut in dramatically, full of charisma.

Tendou smirked, “stay completely silent unless you have to speak for the next 3 turns.”

Oikawa’s jaw dropped and he opened his mouth to protest but Iwaizumi slapped a hand over his mouth saying,

“You’ve done us a great service Tendou, thank you truly”

Kuroo smiled and everyone else laughed at Oikawa’s distraught face. Regardless of his antics Oikawa asked Daichi,

“Truth or dare?”

Daichi paused to consider the evil grin on the other teens face and said “Truth.”

Oikawa frowned “No fun! Well then… tell us the truth! How are you and Suga so cute all the time?” 

The couple began blushing and Kuroo took in the pure domesticity of the situation. They were like a big group of friends enjoying themselves and playing truth or dare. It was so refreshing to have something that almost felt like peace surround them in their safe little bubble.

But of course, these were the hunger games, and that peace would not last.

So Kuroo enjoyed it while he could.

Because the worst was yet to come.

And if Kuroo looked to the sky that night to pay his respects to the dead tribute who’s face flashed through the sky, then that was his business and his alone.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So like I said earlier this chapter was very much a filler and honestly I kind of hate it but I felt like some soft moments were needed before the upcoming chapters. I should hopefully be posting next in 2-3 days so look out for that.
> 
> Also, quick question to everyone.  
> I'm currently writing chapter 30, which is set to be the last chapter of the games.  
> HOWEVER.  
> It is turning into an absolute giant and is a long read. So, my question to all of you is:  
> Do you guys want me to abandon the 15 chapter for each 'arc' thing and split chapter 30 up into 3-5ish chapters, or do you not really care and want me to just post it all in one go in a ~10,000-ish chapter? (approximately 10k, don't know how long it will be yet). 
> 
> Yeah so just let me know which y'all would prefer and have a lovely day!


	24. Danger just arrived, and he wants to see you

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Uh oh

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey folks! I hope y'all are doing well and if not I hope this chapter somewhat helps (although, as promised, we are getting some angst this chapter so maybe don't count on it).
> 
> I hit a bit of a wall with chapter 30 but I've broken through it today and part of that was definitely thanks to all the lovely comments I've gotten and all your feedback and encouragement. It really does mean the world to me so just thanks again to everyone reading for just being nice people and making my day better <3
> 
> Moving right along, I hope you all enjoy this chapter, it's one of my favorites!

Chapter 24: Danger just came knocking

Bokuto could see …something… on the horizon. He couldn’t make it out, not quite, but it didn’t seem to be a desert.

“Look!” He exclaimed, realizing what it was. “We are almost out of the desert!”

Akaashi, who was a few paces behind him talking to Kenma let out a dry “yay.”

“That’s good!” Kuroo said from beside him, having some actual enthusiasm in his voice.

“Lovely!” Oikawa said dramatically. “I hate sand.”

Bokuto turned around to see Kenma’s nose scrunch up as he muttered,

“teeny tiny particles of hell” with every bit of venom one could speak with.

A laugh made its way from Bokuto’s mouth as Kenma said this. He didn’t quite get the short teens personality, not fully, but he really enjoyed the others company. Bokuto enjoyed everyone’s company, he realized as he looked around while walking backwards. They were all nice and reasonably easy to get along with. He then decided to respond to their sentiment,

“Then it’s a good thing we’ll be leaving the desert soo- “

Bokuto was unceremoniously cut off by tripping on a stone buried in the sand.

_How embarrassing…_

“Ugh” he groaned, now covered in sand.

Akaashi smiled at him and came forward, offering a hand that Bokuto gladly took. As Akaashi pulled him up and they were in each other’s personal space for a moment Bokuto was reminded of Kuroo’s dare.

“Bokuto? You alright? You’re looking a bit red.” The raven-haired teen asked in concern.

“Y-yeah. I think it might just be sunburn or something, I’ll be fine.” He replied, trying to give a convincing smile.

Akaashi seemed reluctant to accept this but took a step back, giving him some space as they continued walking.

_Phew. Nice save._

~*~

Daichi looked up from the sand beneath his feet. He had already just watched the tiny specs sink under his feet for the past several hours and it was getting stale.

“Oh.” He said, seeing the new scenery just a few steps ahead of him. “Guys,” he said, turning around to see everyone else looking at the sand as well, Suga with a sad frown on his face. “Guys!”

Everyone startled and looked up at him with equally confused glares before seeing what lay before them.

“We’re here.” Daichi said in a slightly sarcastic tone.

.

A beat of silence.

“Oh thank God” Oikawa cried, running into the grass.

Everyone else however, was a bit more hesitant.

“Where are we? What uh… biome Is it?” Iwaizumi asked, searching for the right word.

Suga cocked his head “some kind of grasslands I think, but we better get going and find shelter before it gets any darker.”

Daichi looked up and- oh. It _was_ pretty late in the day; the sun was starting to set so they probably didn’t have a lot of time.

“Come on then!” Oikawa shouted, several meters ahead of them.

“Well then…” Daichi said softly. “Let’s go”

~*~

“Do you guys want to sleep? I can take first watch” Kenma asked, looking exhausted.

Iwaizumi didn’t normally volunteer for this sort of thing and he hadn’t been on the best terms with Kenma, but he did think the teen deserved a break, they all did, and he wasn’t particularly tired so…

“I’ll do it.”

Kenma nodded gratefully and everyone else muttered “Ok, thanks” before walking off to set up sleeping bags in the small cave they had found.

Iwaizumi walked to Oikawa, who was setting out both their sleeping bags.

“I’ll see you whenever I get back in, or if you’re asleep I’ll see you tomorrow.”

Oikawa pouted and said “but Iwa-chan! I’ll miss you~”

He sighed and leaned in to kiss his boyfriends cheek. “Goodnight.”

Iwaizumi walked out of the cave and sat on a large rock that hid the entrance and watched the grasslands around them. There was long grass up to his waist covering the dirt and a couple of trees here and there.

The grass swayed in the distance and Iwaizumi’s eyes narrowed on the small movement. He wouldn’t let anyone sneak up on them. On his… friends? Iwaizumi used the term loosely but… there was a strange sense of comradery that had built over the last couple of days.

It was… nice.

So was the environment really, the (admittedly artificial) moonlight shining down over the grass that swayed lightly in the breeze. The whole scene felt picturesque.

_._

Until _something_ broke the silence.

Metal flashed in Iwaizumi’s vision.

And then the world went black.

~*~

“Wakey-wakey everyone”

Oikawa’s eyes flew open at the unfamiliar voice.

A brown-haired tribute was standing at the cave entrance, a pile of weapons at their feet. He recognized everyone’s weapons that would have been near their sleeping bags were all there.

“Seems you careers aren’t as skilled as everyone thinks you are huh?” the tribute that had spoken earlier continued. His hair was a light brown and quite short and he had bangs that were swept to the side. He was holding a long thin… stick? Staff? Oikawa couldn’t see the end of it in the darkness. Wait, if he squinted it looked like-

Oikawa’s light yet threatening voice cut through the night. “Why are you holding my trident?”

The teen holding Oikawa’s trident opened his mouth with a smirk, about to speak before being cut off when a second tribute entered.

“Futakuchi, the guard is out”

The tribute, Futakuchi, nodded, “Good job Sakunami.” Then Futakuchi looked directly at Oikawa and said, “We’ll deal with him after we’re done with all of you.”

A cold feeling flooded Oikawa’s body.

_“Where is Hajime.”_

“Your little boyfriend is fine! For now at least.” Futakuchi grinned sadistically. “But you are careers right? And careers well… they’re the ones favoured to win the hunger games.”

Oikawa could see Daichi and Suga twitch out of the corner of his eye, both crouched, while Ushijima and Tendou remained unflinching as they watched every movement made with intense focus. Kenma on the other hand just cocked his head and listened, golden eyes burning into the two tributes in front of them. Bokuto and Akaashi were both standing in threatening poses, though they weren’t moving. Kuroo was crouched in front of Kenma protectively; who was now sitting cross-legged, looking unconcerned and bored (was he drawing a tic tac toe board in the dirt?!)

“Of course,” Futakuchi continued, “We can’t have any of you winning. Because that- “ The brunet gave an unstable smile and laughed slightly. “That would mean the rest of us would die. And we,” Futakuchi grinned, holding the trident out before him, pointed at Oikawa. “we don’t want to die.”

Oikawa felt tension rise in him. Hajime was in danger. He was in danger. They were all in danger. He had to think, he had to do something. He had to-

_oh._

“Well, nobody wants to die right?” Oikawa said, trying to let his natural charisma seep into his voice and forced a cocky grin onto his face. “But we’re all in the hunger games right? And we all are going to die for the Capitol’s entertainment. To _distract them.”_ Oikawa emphasized the words, hoping someone would get it.

Kenma’s eyes flicked up before looking at him for a moment, assessing. Whatever he was looking for he must have found because the blonde stood up and moved forward, pushing past Kuroo even with his protests.

“Kenma- “ the raven-haired teen tried to pull him back by the wrist.

Oikawa moved his hand to his leg as Kenma said calmly “Kuroo.”, Before twisting his wrist free and walking forward another step.

“You know.” Kenma said, voice eerily serene and detached. “Not all of us are careers. I’m certainly not.”

Sakunami apparently considered this a good time to speak up from where he stood behind Futakuchi. “Um… what about the hug in training- “

Futakuchi’s laugh cut off the shorter teen. “Are you saying you are willing to sell out your friends and just leave them to die?” The brunet apparently considered the idea amusing.

“But of course” Kenma said, eyes looking remarkably unemotional. “They mean nothing to me.”

Oikawa stood up, taking the knife he slid from his boot with him. “Rude” He fake pouted. “I was just about to save you”

Futakuchi looked at the blade now in Oikawa’s hands and his eyes widened in fear, his grip on the trident becoming slack. “Wait- “

Everyone was moving in an instant.

Oikawa ran forward, dropping the knife (it was tiny anyway and was just supposed to give them an opening). His arms came forward and gripped part of the head of his trident.

Futakuchi was overcoming his shock and his grip tightened but it was too late.

He used any bit of strength he had to jab the trident back. The base pierced flesh in an instant, sliding with terrifying ease through the tribute’s skin. Oikawa heard a crack somewhere in the other teen’s body. He didn’t want to know what it was.

Oikawa felt sorrow rush through him as he looked into the dying light of Futakuchi’s eyes. They were glazed in fear now, not bloodlust and insanity. Futakuchi had just been scared, he knew that.

But he had threatened Iwaizumi.

“I’m sorry.” Oikawa said, only half-meaning the words as the corpse of Futakuchi slid off the trident, leaving it coated in a sickening red.

Relief crashed through him in waves as a cannon echoed in his ears. 

The brunet barely noticed Akaashi sweep a leg under Sakunami to knock him down before Bokuto gripped his neck, crushing the short teen’s windpipe. He barely heard the cannon go off again as he climbed out of the cave, eyes darting frantically.

_Where is he? Where is Hajime? Where-_

Oikawa let out the breath he hadn’t realised he was holding. Slumped against a rock on the hill was Iwaizumi. His eyes were closed, and head tilted back against the rock. He ran to his unconscious boyfriend and shook his shoulder lightly.

“Hajime” he said softly, voice full of relief.

.

Iwaizumi didn’t move.

“Hajime”, Oikawa’s voice rose in panic as he tried to shake his boyfriend awake.

.

Nothing.

“Hajime!” Oikawa said, voice now hysterical. “Wake up!”

.

But Iwaizumi did not move.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Don't hunt me down please??
> 
> (Also just one moment I really love and want to draw attention to, Kenma drawing a tic tac toe board while being held at tridentpoint (? would that be the term?) is like my favourite thing ever and thanks to my friend Another_Concerned_Citizen for the idea)
> 
> But yeah no I hope you enjoyed this chapter, I'll see y'all next time, and we in turn shall see what happened to our dear Iwaizumi :>  
> Have a wonderful day everyone <3


	25. Fog clouds my vision, I need you to be my light

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Suga angst, Iwaoi angst, Kuroken angst
> 
> We have angst folks, come get y'all juice!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> aHH sorry guys! I really wasn't intending to update this late but hey life has been crazy. 
> 
> That aside, hope y'all are excited and enjoy~

“HAJIME!” a frenzied voice screamed, cutting through the air.

Suga recognized Oikawa’s voice and Iwaizumi’s name.

A knot of dread formed in the silver-haired teens stomach as he exited the cave to see Oikawa on his knees next to an unconscious Iwaizumi slumped against a rock. The brunet was shaking Iwaizumi as tears started to form in his eyes.

“what’s happening?” Suga asked, rushing forward as his parental instincts kicked in.

Oikawa looked up at him, eyes barely flashing in recognition. “He’s- he’s not waking up!”

Suga looked down at Iwaizumi, attempting to find any indication of how serious it was. He had spent a lot of time in district 8 acting as a sort of medic around the neighbourhood and had learnt more about injuries in training. 

He wracked his brain, trying to remember something _-anything-_ that would help. Suga knew that he was kind of a deadweight, everyone else could fight well. Even Daichi, who wasn’t a career by a long shot (nor did he have the apparent brutality of Ushijima and Tendou or the natural talent and strategy of Kenma) was pretty damn strong and had learned to use his strength effectively. Suga… didn’t really have that. He could observe, learn and make strategies but that’s about it. Unfortunately his intellect wouldn’t be much help in the hunger games. The only thing he really had going for him right now was this, his knowledge of the human body and injuries and his skills as a medic. That was the only thing stopping him from being useless to the group.

Suga had to do _something._

“What’s wrong with him?!” Oikawa cried out, kneeled next to Iwaizumi as Suga was.

The silver-haired teen fumbled for an answer. “I- I don’t know!”

Oikawa looked at him, tears streaming down his cheeks as he hissed, “That’s not good enough!”

_ I’m not good enough. _

_ I know. _

“Hey!” Daichi interrupted, “don’t speak to Suga like that.”

“No.” Suga cut in, voice small. “It’s fine. I just need to think.”

Suga reached out to touch a matted part of Iwaizumi’s hair despite Oikawa nearly growling at him. A small ridge was there under his fingers.

“Here.” Suga said. “He was hit on the head which means he was knocked unconscious.”

Oikawa looked at him incredulously. “How does that help?”

Suga didn’t look at Oikawa as he said “we can’t do much. He has to wake up on his own.”

_ If he wakes up. _

The brunet looked to be holding back a snarl as he began to shift Iwaizumi into his arms.

“I wouldn’t do that- “ Suga tried to interject.

“Why not?!” Oikawa said looking up at him, eyes full of fear and anger.

Suga knew where the teens hurt was coming from, he was worried for his boyfriend after all, but the distrust still stung a little bit. 

_ It shouldn’t. We’ve only known each other a few days. It shouldn’t matter. _

“Just- “ Suga paused. “Hold him like this.”

The silver-haired teen repositioned Iwaizumi in Oikawa’s arms, careful and slow. He then took Oikawa’s hesitant wrist and moved his hand to support Iwaizumi’s head and tilt it back.

“That should help him breathe a bit easier. Hopefully he should wake up soon. If he doesn’t…” Suga trailed off, not wanting to upset Oikawa further.

Oikawa looked up at him, eyes burning hopefully with no room for argument. “He will.”

Suga tried to give a convincing smile. “Ok.”

He got up from his position near the couple and walked over to the rest of the group that were standing in the night, Daichi a few steps ahead of them, lingering close to Iwaizumi and Oikawa. Suga’s boyfriend took his hand and lead him to everyone else.

Bokuto immediately said, “Wow Suga! That was so cool, you just walking in like that. Where did you learn so much about injuries?”

Akaashi also chimed in “Your calm was certainly impressive.”

There was a small hum of agreement from Kenma, who was sitting down on a rock nearby drawing a tic tac toe board into the dirt and playing against himself.

“Yeah well,” Suga tried to smile lightly, “I didn’t do much. There isn’t much to do really. It’s… up to Iwaizumi to wake up now, hopefully within the next few minutes. If it’s longer than that…”

“wait!” Bokuto interrupted. “Iwaizumi is going to be ok right?”

Suga’s moment of silence was telling. “…I hope so.”

As the group of teens looked over at Oikawa gently cradling Iwaizumi in the position Suga had left them Kuroo added,

“I hope so too, for Oikawa’s sake.”

~*~

Kenma etched an x into one of the dirt tic tac toe squares and frowned. A tie again.

He let out a light sigh and looked up from the ground in front of him to look at Oikawa, still carefully holding Iwaizumi. Suga was kneeled next to the pair, talking quietly to Oikawa.

Kenma hoped that Iwaizumi woke up soon. It was unsettling to see the normally quite composed and put-together tribute look so… helpless.

“Hey Kenma” Kuroo’s voice cut through his musings.

The blonde turned on the rock he was using as a seat and looked up at his boyfriend. Kuroo’s hair was still in its signature bedhead despite Kuroo not being able to squash his head with pillows with sleeping. Maybe it just permanently stayed like that now? Kenma had no idea.

“Hi Kuro.” He replied, ignoring his pointless thoughts.

Kuroo smiled down at him and offered a hand to pull him up. “Come on, we need to talk about something.”

Kenma hesitantly took Kuroo’s hand and let himself be dragged to his feet. “Ok.”

Kuroo lead Kenma out into the fields of grass, the sky was almost pitch black but because they were in the arena there was a soft light illuminating the area. It made the whole scene look strangely picturesque.

“What did you want to talk about?” Kenma asked quietly, almost afraid to break the peaceful silence.

“I just- “ Kuroo paused to sigh before looking anywhere but at him. “you distracted Sakunami and Futakuchi earlier and you pushed past me and…” the teen trailed off.

Kenma stayed silent but took Kuroo’s hand and gave it a light squeeze.

Kuroo looked up from the ground and made eye contact with him. “I was scared. You could have been hurt- I know, it’s dumb and we could have taken them easily even if you hadn’t distracted them, but I was still scared.”

“oh” Kenma breathed.

The taller teen didn’t seem to be able to stop rambling now and continued. “It’s selfish and stupid but I lived without you for too long! It was hard enough when I thought you were dead but… there was always a tiny bit of me that hoped you weren’t. If I- if I were to see you die in front of me then… then I would break. I just- I don’t want you to die.”

Kenma took Kuroo’s other hand with his own, now standing in front of him holding his hands. “I know” he said softly. “when I lost you it felt like I had lost my other half. I’ll try be careful but… we are in the hunger games. I’m going to have to take some risks ok? So are you and I… I don’t want you to get hurt either, but we can’t change our circumstances…”

“Yeah, I get that I just…” Kuroo paused, looking down at their joined hands. “Let me protect you as much as I can alright? And when I can’t… be careful.”

“Ok.” Kenma smiled slightly. “I can do that.”

Kuroo returned his smile with one of his own before it turned into a smirk and he used their joint hands to tug Kenma towards him into a kiss.

Kenma sunk into Kuroo’s arms and his lips quirked up in the kiss. They broke away and just stood in silence, Kenma’s head leaning on Kuroo’s shoulder. 

“It’s beautiful” Kenma said quietly, looking over the fields of grass, all lit up with the soft light of the arena.

“Yeah.” Kuroo said as Kenma peered up to see him not looking at the environment but directly at him. “It is beautiful.”

~*~

Oikawa cradled Iwaizumi and fought of his tears.

_ It’s only been a few minutes. There hasn’t been a cannon. If he was dead there would be a cannon. _

He repeated the words over and over in his head, trying to convince himself that there was _no. way._ Iwaizumi would ever die.

Suga, who was crouched next to him and Iwaizumi, reached a hand forward to Iwaizumi’s temple, feeling for any fever or heat. 

“He doesn’t have a fever, and his breathing is good so he should be fine.” The silver haired teen said softy.

Oikawa let out a breath he didn’t know he was holding. “I… thank you Suga. He’s… everything to me and I’m afraid of what I might have done if you weren’t here to help.”

Suga looked at him in something between shock and empathy. “It’s ok. I’m just doing my part. The rest of you can fight and I… I’ll do this, I’ll play medic.”

“Either way, thank you” Oikawa replied. He could sense an undertone in Suga’s words but quite frankly he didn’t have the energy to address it.

The brunet startled as Iwaizumi shivered slightly in his arms.

“Um!” Oikawa panicked, trying to not get his hopes up.

Suga however immediately got up and rushed back to the group congregated around the cave, easily pushing past them and disappearing into the hill. He re-emerged a moment later holding a blanket. As he got closer he unfolded the dark blue fabric that was wrinkled from being in a backpack. 

Oikawa shifted slightly so Suga had better access so he could begin to wrap Iwaizumi in the blanket. Oikawa carefully transferred Iwaizumi into Suga’s arms before taking him again, now wrapped up. Like a burrito! He tried to find humour in the silly observation

He looked down at his unconscious boyfriend and whispered,

“Please, don’t die on me Hajime. Please don’t leave me”

~*~

It was dark.

But not black, not quite.

There was swirling grey and flecks of black, but also dots of colour.

He was floating. Drifting. Going away.

_ Wake up _

No. He was weightless here, he didn’t have to go back.

_ Wake. up. _

He didn’t have to open his eyes. He could just stay here, peaceful.

_ WAKE. UP. _

It was easier to just stay in this weird world, dark but not black.

_ “Please don’t die on me Hajime.” _

Wait! He recognized that voice- Tooru.

What was he saying?! He didn’t want to stay here! He wanted to wake up!

_ “Please don’t leave me.” _

Iwaizumi’s eyes opened.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope y'all enjoyed??? 
> 
> Next chapter should be up next week, hopefully less of a wait (again, sorry about that).   
> Have a wonderful day everyone~


	26. Some bridges are easy to burn

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey folks! Sorry it's been a while. Once again, life has been crazy, I'll elaborate more in the end notes but just know that this might be the last or second to last update for a little while.
> 
> Enjoy!

Iwaizumi’s eyes opened.

The first thing he noticed was the light. Had the world always been that bright?

The second thing he saw was infinitely better.

“Tooru” he croaked; voice slightly shaky.

“Hey Hajime” Oikawa gave him a watery smile, eyes bright with tears.

Iwaizumi’s brows knitted together. “why are you crying?”

A choked sob made its way from the brunet. “I thought you were going to die. I thought you were going to leave me.”

“I’m not going anywhere.” Iwaizumi said softly, shaking reaching for Oikawa’s hand and giving it a tiny squeeze. “It’ll take a little more than that to get rid of me.”

Oikawa gave his hand a squeeze too, “Ok Hajime. Ok.”

Distantly, unnoticed by both of them, the sun rose spectacularly on the horizon, signalling a new day after the dark night.

~*~

“How could we let Iwaizumi almost die?! He is one of the fan-favourites at the moment!” a loud voice boomed in the arena control centre.

A timid scientist spoke up, “I- I know sir but- “

“No. No ‘but’. The favourites live. It is as simple as that. We need to keep people watching.” Said the head game maker, tone not leaving any room for arguments.

“O-ok but- “

A door slid open and boots pounded against the cold floor as someone entered.

“Why aren’t they dead yet Irihata?” President Washijo’s voice was cold as he walked into the room with an air of annoyance.

The head game maker, who only a moment ago had been angry was now timid. “Well- President we can’t kill off fan favorites. All interest in the games would be lost- “

“I DON’T CARE!” Washijo’s voice was raised, harsh and unforgiving. “That whole group is full of fan favorites. Everyone _loves_ them. Spin the story right, do it correct, and we can make it into the greatest tragedy the games has ever seen. A group of friends, all brutally killed while trying to defend each other. Someone betrays the rest in a thrilling twist of events. One of them commits suicide to try let their partner win, leading to the partner killing themselves or others in a rage. I don’t care _how_ it happens. But Kozume Kenma is **not** getting to the barrier, and neither are his group of very skilled, very dangerous, ‘friends’.”

The room was dead silent. The lack of noise was suffocating.

“Do I make myself clear?”

A beat of silence.

“Yes President Washijo.”

The short man gave an emotionless smile. “Good. Get to work.”

“Yes President Washijo.”

~*~

“Crappykawa I’m fine.” Iwaizumi said, annoyed.

“But Iwa-chan you were unconscious! That can have bad side effects!” Oikawa shot back.

Iwaizumi sighed. _If he’s this frantic now then I wonder what he was like when I was out._

“Tooru.” He said, changing strategies to something softer. “I’m ok. I’m not 100%, probably won’t be for a little while but I can manage alright?”

Oikawa made eye contact with him, seemingly searching for something in his gaze. He must have found it because he rested his forehead against Iwaizumi’s, eyes closed, and said “ok.”

“Hey Oikawa!” Bokuto called, drawing the teens attention “Can you help me with something?”

The brunet turned to him, still looking unsure.

Iwaizumi took his hand and gave it a little squeeze. “I’m fine Tooru.”

“Ok…” Oikawa squeezed his hand in return before releasing him and turning to Bokuto and walking to help him.

He watched the pair for a moment before hearing a voice behind him and turning.

“Just let him worry about you” Suga said, approaching him. “He only does it because he cares.”

Iwaizumi closed his eyes for a moment and crossed his arms. “I know.”

Suga smiled slightly. “He was absolutely frantic while you were unconscious.”

“I can imagine.” Iwaizumi said, the words leaving a strange taste in his mouth.

Suga gave a wry smirk. “It was… overwhelming” the silver-haired teen admitted.

“Yeah…” Iwaizumi said before he remembered something Oikawa said earlier. “You helped when I was out, Oikawa told me.”

The other teen looked startled for a moment. “No- Not really. It wasn’t something I could exactly fix.”

“Still” Iwaizumi said. “Thank you.”

Suga smiled at him before saying “Ok how _are_ you feeling at the moment? You might have a few different side effects for the next couple of hours then hopefully you should be back to normal.”

He paused for a moment to assess himself. “I’m not doing too badly, a little dizzy but otherwise I’m pretty good”

Suga, with a mischievous grin, teased him, “You sure?”

Iwaizumi’s voice became sarcastically drawn out. “I’m fine Suga”

“You _really_ sure?”

“I’m _really_ fine Suga”

~*~

Sentiment was a rather foreign concept to him, Ushijima mused as he sat on the hill in the grasslands, keeping watch while everyone else packed up their gear.

He understood basic concepts of emotion, sure, but that didn’t mean he really felt them or let them dictate his actions. He didn’t quite _get_ the way Oikawa freaked out after Iwaizumi was knocked out. He didn’t understand Kuroo’s protectiveness over Kenma, nor did he understand Daichi and Suga’s sweet words to each other and their loving relationship. He didn’t understand the way Akaashi would keep a constant eye on Bokuto and vice versa. It was… confusing… that two people could care enough to be blinded by emotion.

“Hey ‘Toshi!” A familiar voice from a familiar redhead called. “We’re getting ready to leave now.”

Ushijima turned to Tendou, who had climbed up the hill and was standing a few meters away from him with a backpack slung over his shoulders. Tendou came closer and offered him a hand that he gladly took.

“Where are we going?” Ushijima asked, head tilting slightly as they climbed down the hill to the rest of the group that were finishing packing.

“Who knows” Tendou shrugged. “West apparently. Wherever it is that Pudding-Chan needs to be for this ‘plan’ of his.”

He hummed in response, knowing that the only person who truly knew what they were doing was Kozume.

As Ushijima and Tendou finished climbing down and began to walk to their makeshift group Ushijima could hear a conversation. Actually, it sounded a little bit like an argument.

“Hajime I really don’t think you’re well enough to travel.” Oikawa was saying.

“Tooru that isn’t your call to make ok? I’m fine. We can’t delay any more than we already have.” Iwaizumi replied, voice edged with annoyance.

Oikawa struggled for a second. “I know but- “

“I agree with Iwaizumi” Ushijima said, not caring about interrupting the couple.

The dark-haired teen in question looked at him startled, seemingly having not realized he was there. “Well Tooru, you know I _hate_ to agree with Ushijima but he’s right. I’m fine.”

Ushijima watched Oikawa’s hard look crumble nearly instantly. “Ok…”

Iwaizumi smiled at the brunet. “I’ll take it easy though. Come on idiot.” He held out a hand to Oikawa that the teen gladly took as they grabbed their backpacks.

“Ok” Daichi announced, getting everyone in the groups attention. “Make sure you grab everything, and we’ll get going.”

Choruses of “yes Daichi” and “yup, sure” echoed through the group while Ushijima just gave a curt nod.

It didn’t take long for their ragtag team to be on their way. Where, Ushijima didn’t really know. He just knew that it was part of Kozume’s plan and that it might be able to let them all survive. 

And that, Ushijima thought, glancing at Tendou walking next to him with a small grin, was a risk worth taking.

~*~

Oikawa tried to focus on the conversation flowing through the group, he really did. Everyone was chiming in except Kenma, who was walking with his head down, face covered by hair. Unfortunately Oikawa’s thoughts were occupied only by his boyfriend.

Iwaizumi was walking next to him, holding his hand as their team trekked through the grasslands. The silhouettes of mountains were closer on the horizon after walking most of the day. The dark-haired teen had a strange look on his face, but Oikawa still felt comfortable in the silence so didn’t prod.

Despite Oikawa saying he would stop worrying about Iwaizumi though, he hadn’t let the dark-haired teen out of his sight. He wasn’t being paranoid! No, he wasn’t paranoid. He just…

He realized how much he needed Iwaizumi to be alive. How much he loved him. And how far he’d go to protect him.

Oikawa’s hand squeezed Iwaizumi’s slightly. The other teen noticed and gave him a soft smile and returned his squeeze, his earlier expression vanishing. The brunet returned his smile and took a deep breath, trying to calm himself down.

In his attempt to relax he hadn’t noticed the sudden silence and stillness of everyone else, resulting in Oikawa nearly bumping into Bokuto before Iwaizumi pulled him back to stop him.

“Hey why did we- “ he began before seeing what was before them.

Large mountains loomed over them. The slopes were steep and looked lethal if someone should slip. Oikawa could make out a few caves and crevices at various points up the demanding peaks.

“What on earth do we do?” Oikawa exclaimed, breaking the sluggish silence.

There was a pause where nobody said anything.

“What else would we do?” Kenma said, turning around to face him. “We climb.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey everyone, hope y'all are doing well and enjoyed this chapter!
> 
> So I said in the beginning that this might be the last update for a little while and that is because I'm moving! In about 12 days I'll be moving and currently we're working on packing everything up and stuff so I might not be able to post before I leave. If I do though it should be about a week away. After that though, I have no idea. It might be a month or a bit more (aH) before I can update xdd 
> 
> Wish I didn't have to leave y'all hanging for that long before the next chapter but please stick with me through it.
> 
> Anyway, I appreciate any comments and kudos so think about leaving some :>>   
> Bye everyone, have a nice day~


	27. Terror is great motivation, don't you think?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> BACKSTREET'S BACK BABY!  
> :>
> 
> Yeah so I'm back folks!  
> Sorry for being gone for so long everyone but I can say right now that I was not idle. Chapter 30 is 70-ish% done (give or take a bit) and I'm also working on another little thing connected to Catalyst. I'll explain that more in the end notes so look out for that.
> 
> Now, we've got a few other things to address.
> 
> First, Catalyst reached 300 kudos!!! I'll be honest, when I started this story it was a whim on a random Sunday afternoon. I didn't plan to continue it but some friends encouraged me so I did. A few months later I began posting and, once again, did not have particularly high hopes, but all of you are amazing and I seriously wouldn't have gotten this far without you guys so my eternal gratitude to you.
> 
> This kind of leads into the second thing, thank you to everyone who comments. The past month and a bit have been crazy and it's been quite hard to find motivation to do anything, let alone write. The nice words and excitement I see from all of you regarding this story and the fact that you guys like this at all is astounding and really motivates me. I genuinely cannot believe y'all are blessing me with your words.
> 
> Okay now that the sappy stuff nobody cares about is out of the way-
> 
> Enjoy the chapter!!

Kenma hissed as the cold air whipped around him, tickling his face. He couldn’t feel his nose as light snowflakes floated down around him. They had been climbing up the mountain for most of the day. Their ragtag team had set up camp at the base of the mountain for a night before beginning to climb earlier that morning. It was now late in the day, 4 or 5pm if Kenma was to guess. He also guessed he wasn’t the only one beginning to tire, everyone had a lethargic expression and slow footsteps.

Akaashi (who was a few steps ahead of him) seemed to have noticed this. “Come on, we should find somewhere to rest for the night. The sun’s going to be setting soon.”

Everyone made noncommittal noises of agreement for Iwaizumi mentioned the dark grey clouds looming on the horizon.

“By the looks of those clouds there might be a storm tonight and God only knows what that could bring.”

Kenma startled slightly, remembering that they _were_ in the hunger games and that the storm would probably be part of the Capitol’s plan.

“Yeah…” he muttered, picking up his pace slightly as worry began to claw at him. “We should get going.”

~*~

“Anyone see anything?” Daichi yelled over the wind, barely audible to Iwaizumi.

Shouts of “no” came from various directions along the peak. Iwaizumi yelled back a negative as well from where he was off to the side. Oikawa was a few meters away, having immediately teamed up with him to look for shelter.

There wasn’t anything up here, at least nothing they could find. No shelter, no anything. There was literally nothing except snow and-

Smoke?

Iwaizumi squinted at the sky, trying to check if he was really seeing smoke rise higher up the mountain. Despite feeling better after a few hours, just as Suga had said, eh wasn’t sure if he was hallucinating or not. Sure enough, grey smoke was blending with the dark sky.

“Guys!” He yelled over his shoulder. “Look!”

It took a minute but soon everyone was there, and Oikawa came to his side asking “what? Did you find something.”

Iwaizumi paused to look at the blonde, then at the rest of the group before pointing to the sky. 

“We’re not alone.”

~*~

Kuroo placed his foot down lightly, careful to stay deadly silent as he creeped closer to the source of the smoke.

He was among the snow and rocks, shielding him from being out in the open. They also shielded his friends, who were all sneaking around their ‘target’ from all directions.

Kuroo set aside the thought that his friends were all separated right now, and that it would take a while to get to them if one of them was hurt. For now, he just had to get close enough to gather intelligence (though he did have his spear in case there was trouble.)

This is what lead Kuroo to run quietly forward and crouch beside another rock, giving him a view of a campsite. It was sheltered by the stone looming around it like cliffs that if you fell from you’d land in the campsite. A few paths, cracks really, ran through the stone, making ways to leave the area. It was in one such path that Kuroo was currently crouched. It wasn’t the most easily defensible place. Which was good for them, Kuroo supposed. But it certainly wasn’t for whichever tribute was here.

Speaking of, he could hear footsteps in the distance. From somewhere in the camp he assumed. They were slowly getting louder, and he could see rustling in one of the tents and squinted as someone came out.

It was Aone. 

Kuroo wasn’t particularly surprised that the tall, strong tribute was still alive. If he’d had the time a career had to train for the games he probably would be a contender to win. 

So it’s a good thing he didn’t.

He should get going now, they had all agreed they shouldn’t attack the tribute now, whoever they were. They were all going to meet back where they left their gear (and Tendou to guard them because while Iwaizumi had been the initial suggestion for guard Oikawa wouldn’t let him out of his sight and the brunet was invaluable, quite frankly so was Iwaizumi but they wanted to make sure he healed properly) and come up with a plan. This was strictly intelligence gathering.

That was what Kuroo thought a few seconds ago.

Then he saw Aone freeze and tilt his head as if he had heard something. For a heartbeat Kuroo thought the other tribute knew people were watching him, but then the teen began moving again, picking up a mace lying next to the campfire. Kuroo watched with bated breath as Aone walked away, down another of the paths away from the campsite. He was probably going to check the perimeter and gather food.

He let out a relieved breath.

.

Wait… that was the path Kenma was hiding in!

A cold feeling washed over Kuroo.

He could barely wait as Aone’s footsteps fading to nothing in the distance as he walked out of both Kuroo’s sight and earshot before he ran (quietly) to the entrance to the camp. Kuroo scanned the pathway, looking for Kenma’s blonde hair. In the corner of his eye he could see all his teammates shocked glares and outrage.

“Kuroo!” Iwaizumi whisper-yelled, running over to him from the path next to him. “What the hell are you doing!? We can’t risk something like- “

Kuroo returned the glare with his own, trying to stay calm and reign in his worry and growing anger. “Aone went down the path Kenma was supposed to- “

A loud scream cut Kuroo off.

He was running before he knew what was happening.

Everything seemed both way too fast and way too slow as he ran through the path Aone had disappeared down, everyone else following with their weapons drawn.

“KENMA!” He yelled, trying to work out where the teen was.

There was a terrifying moment of silence before “HELP! BY THE CLIFF- “

Kenma’s panicked scream was cut of abruptly and Kuroo swore his heart stopped as he ran faster.

Kuroo emerged from among the stone to see a wide expanse. The area was covered in ugly piles of snow and deep footprints. Unfortunately, the most damning thing about the landscape was the jagged edge. The same jagged edge Kenma was being dragged towards.

Aone had one hand clamped over Kenma’s mouth and the other holding the short teens wrists behind his back. The pair were rapidly approaching the edge as Kenma thrashed, trying to loosen the other teens grip. Aone was strong however and dragged the teen closer to the cliff anyway.

“KENMA!” He screamed, drawing Aone’s attention.

The blonde’s eyes darted to him, muffled screams coming from his lips. Kuroo’s blood was boiling and there was only one person to blame-

“What are you doing here?” Aone asked, voice devoid of emotion. “Are you with him?” he said, gesturing to the teen in his grasp.

Kuroo growled and raised his spear. He could see Daichi tense up in his peripheral vision. “Why are you trying to kill him?” He asked venomously, ignoring the question.

“You’re all dangerous. You must be taken care of because…” Aone suddenly had a glimmer of fear in his eyes that almost made Kuroo feel sorry as the teen continued. “I don’t want to die here.”

The bastard was about to chuck Kenma off a cliff though, so Kuroo didn’t _really_ care.

“Why Kenma?” he hissed darkly.

Aone seemed confused at this question, his next, narrow-minded words threw Kuroo further into fury. “He’s a threat,” 

“He’s my boyfriend.” Kuroo spat back. He spun the spear in his hands menacingly. “I’ve coated this in blood before and I’m not afraid to do it again.”

Aone looked at him, eyes a mixture of fear and resolution. “Then you leave me no choice.”

Time seemed to slow down as the white-haired teen pushed Kenma closer to the edge.

“NO!” Kuroo screamed, running forward. “KENMA!”

Golden eyes met his, wide and afraid. 

And then, Kenma fell.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So.... hope y'all enjoyed it despite the cliff hanger (literally lol XD haha I'm so funny... I'm not but please humor me).  
> I don't know when I'll be posting again but hopefully in a week, give or take a few days. 
> 
> Now, I mentioned in the beginning notes that I was working on something else so I'll explain that now.  
> Basically, while writing Catalyst there are ideas in my head constantly and they are all building up to each other and I slowly add smaller plot points that link to later chapters. HOWEVER. There are little details that I couldn't add to the story because they don't fit with the scene and would interrupt the actual flow of each chapter. This means that there is some context I know and everyone else kind of doesn't. It isn't too bad, mostly just small references here so just reading Catalyst would still let you understand everything.
> 
> I do however, also have a collection of 'deleted scenes' in a separate document. There are a few chapters were I cut bit out that didn't fit or just decided they weren't necessary for that specific point in time (which... uh... well done screwing up there past me geez).
> 
> So, all of this to say...  
> I'm making Catalyst into a series. There will be 2 works. The first being Catalyst as you know it in all of its glory. This will be the 'main story' and you don't need to read anything else to understand the story. The second work however will be a bunch of shorter chapters that give extra context to Catalyst. Basically it'll be a mixture of deleted scenes and things I write as context is needed. 
> 
> To summarize, if you don't care about the extra stuff, you can completely ignore this and just read Catalyst. If you want to have a bit more context and read more about this AU, go ahead and read it. I'll be posting the first chapter tomorrow and it'll be Yachi's POV of Chapter 16. I'm quite proud of it so I hope anyone that reads it will like it.
> 
> Okay, now that all of that is dealt with, I hope everyone has a wonderful day/night. I'll see y'all next time!


	28. Heaven hates the sin but loves the sinner, hell loves the angels but hates the fate that makes them

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So.  
> 'I'll try get next chapter up next week'  
> I am a bloody liar.
> 
> That's okay, I'm back now.
> 
> Okay so moving on, chapter 28 yay! I have quite a bit to say but I'll save it for the end notes, for now, enjoy the chapter!

Kenma was worried the moment they left to find the other tribute on the mountain. Something didn’t feel right, there was some kind of dread weighing on his shoulders.

Nevertheless, the blonde went and hid in the passage between the campsite and the rest of the mountain. Then Aone had left the campsite and approached the path. Kenma could tell instantly, that Aone had seen him.

Kenma had been grabbed, his wrists pushed behind his back so he couldn’t reach for his knives. Aone had clamped a hand over his mouth, but not soon enough to stop Kenma from screaming for help and to alert his friends. No amount of thrashing and muffled cries could help him.

The white-haired teen dragged him to the cliff and brought him to the edge. Then Kuroo and the others arrived. Something like hope filled him, though Kenma could see the fear in Kuroo’s eyes, masked by fury.

The ensuing conversation was vicious, full of dark words and venom.

Dread slowly built, becoming a crashing wave. It hit him like a truck, or perhaps a piano or seven. Some sixth sense told him that _something_ was going to happen, and he braced himself as Kuroo hissed at Aone, eyes never leaving the teen holding him.

“Then you leave me no choice.” Aone said, pulling him closer to the ledge.

Kenma could barely feel the stone anymore, his heels hung off the edge. The only thing keeping him up was Aone’s grip, that, subsequently, put them both at the very edge of the cliff, a fact that didn’t escape his notice.

He looked at Kuroo, who was suddenly running toward them. “NO! KENMA!” It wasn’t ever going to be fast enough.

Kenma looked into Kuroo’s eyes. They were wide and desperate and so, so afraid.

_Here’s to hoping my plan works._

Moments before Aone released Kenma he gripped the teens wrists; it was hard to do with limited movement, but it was enough.

As the white-haired teen let him go he didn’t realise they were still connected and, with the combination of Kenma’s weight and a harsh tug,

Aone fell with him.

Kenma felt dread crashing into him, a tidal wave of fear and anguish that’s force was equal to a truck, or perhaps a piano or seven.

The only thing keeping him up was Aone’s grip, that, subsequently, put them both at the very edge of the cliff, a fact that didn’t escape his notice.

He looked at Kuroo, who was suddenly running toward them. “NO! KENMA!”

…It wasn’t ever going to be fast enough.

Kenma made eye contact with Kuroo. His gaze was wide and desperate and so, so afraid.

He was sure his was too.

_Here’s to hoping my plan works._

There was a weight in Kenma’s stomach, something else pressing down on his shoulders. His throat felt dry and swallowing was harsh, even without the knot that had formed there.

_I’m afraid. I’m afraid but I only have once chance. I’m afraid but I need to do this._

Moments before Aone released Kenma he gripped the teens wrists; it was hard to do with limited movement, but it was enough.

As the white-haired teen let him go he didn’t realise they were still connected and, with the combination of Kenma’s weight and a harsh tug,

Aone fell with him.

~*~

Kuroo screamed as Kenma fell, his heart stopping.

Blonde hair whipped down as the teen fell and-

Brought Aone with him.

Aone let out a shout as he was tugged off the ledge as he, in a flurry for survival, tried to find purchase.

A hand gripped the ledge. Another joined it. Both were a raw red and struggling to grip the stone, slippery from the snow.

Kuroo ran forward as Aone screamed in panic. The teen was hanging from the cliff, barely staying alive. What caught Kuroo’s attention however,

Was the short, blond Kenma, still gripping Aone’s wrists for dear life as he clung to the back of the struggling teen.

“Kenma!” Kuroo said, hysterical relief taking over him.

The teen in question gave him a strained smile before looking back down in panic at the shaking Aone, who was beginning to lose his grip even as he yelled for one of them to help him.

Something dark filled his gut at the sight of Aone helpless, it would be so, so easy to just kill him now, but Kenma was his priority. Kuroo shoved his feelings down, focusing on his boyfriend instead.

“Come on! Get up!” Kuroo said quickly, reaching down to grab Kenma’s hand.

Kenma carefully removed one hand from Aone’s wrist (the teen did _not_ look happy; in fact he was screaming violently) and took his hand.

Kuroo pulled the teen up, not caring about the risk it had to Aone. Kenma collapsed into his arms and Kuroo could suddenly see the tears that were making his golden eyes bright.

“Hey…” he said softly, wiping the tears. “It’s ok. You’re safe.”

Kenma took a few gasping breaths and shook his head, eyes wide. It took Kuroo a second to realise what was happening.

_Oh God Kenma is having a panic attack._

Worry and fear flashed through Kuroo. “uh! Um…” he tried to think. Kenma wouldn’t want to have a panic attack in front of everyone so he couldn’t stay here. He would also probably force his body to stop it until he could be alone. Neither option was great. There had to be somewhere away from the cliff and away from Aone and the others- The campsite!

“Can I touch you?” Kuroo asked quietly.

Kenma’s face flashed with pain before he gave a hesitant nod and took a gasping breath.

Kuroo slowly picked the blonde up and began quickly walking to the campsite.

“Stay here! Watch him!” Kuroo shouted over his shoulder, trying not to upset Kenma further.

He carried Kenma to the campsite, trying to be as gentle as possible while quickly getting him to a secluded space, away from Aone and the cliff, whichever had been a trigger.

Kuroo spotted a rock that could feasibly act as a seat and set Kenma down before kneeling a little bit away from him to give him space.

“Do you want me to stay or go?” He asked quietly.

Kenma looked up at him, still trying to control his breathing before whispering “stay. Please”

“Ok” Kuroo replied in the same hushed tone. “I’m not going anywhere.

The blonde seated on the rock was shaking and his breathing was still erratic. Kenma’s eyes weren’t focused.

“Hey” Kuroo said softly, remembering one of the ways he used to help Kenma with panic attacks. “What’re four things you can hear?”

Kenma took a deep, shaky breath “The fire crackling, your voice, the wind, everyone talking in the distance”

Kuroo gave a wobbly smile “Yeah, now three things you can feel.”

Another breath, this time wasn’t as unsteady. “The stone under me. The fabric of the games suit. You.” Kenma said before taking his hand slowly. “You’re warm.”

He startled, how had he forgotten about the cold? It kind of became irrelevant after everything earlier. He shifted slightly closer to Kenma, giving him time to move away if he wasn’t comfortable. On the contrary Kenma shuffled closer to him and shivered.

Kuroo, with painstakingly slow speed, moved onto the rock next to Kenma and put an arm around him to warm him up. “Better?”

“Y-yeah.” Kenma said quietly, voice steadier now.

Kuroo smiled softy then continued. “Ok, now two things you can smell.”

“The smoke from the fire, the fresh snow smell.” Kenma answered, taking another deep breath.

“One thing you can see?” Kuroo asked.

Kenma paused and Kuroo saw his nose twitch. “You.”

“Ok.” Kuroo said quietly, looking down at the blonde that was slowly relaxing. He waited a few minutes, just trying to give Kenma a minute to recuperate. “Feel any better?” he said after a little while of silence

Kenma looked up at him with a tiny, wobbling smile. “yeah. I’m not- I'm not perfect but I’m doing better.”

“Good” Kuroo said, once again shifting slowly to hug Kenma. The teen didn’t move away, instead leaning into the warmth.

There was a little murmur, so quiet Kuroo almost didn’t hear it.

“Thanks Kuro.”

“No problem Kitten.”

~*~

A loud cannon echoed over the arena, but it went largely ignored.

“Let’s hope they didn’t hear that.” Akaashi said lightly, wiping his hands on his pants before walking to the rest of the group.

Oikawa stood at the edge of the cliff with the others and watched as Akaashi returned with a neutral expression.

There was a heartbeat of silence before someone spoke.

“What on earth just happened?” Suga said, voice shaky.

“Kenma… pulled Aone with him. But Aone managed to grab the ledge and since Kenma was hanging onto Aone he didn’t fall…” Iwaizumi said quietly, as if processing the memory, quite frankly Oikawa didn’t blame him.

Bokuto frowned and said “And now Kenma’s having a panic attack right? That’s what that was? What do we do? Is he going to be ok?” the questions all coming in rapid succession of each other.

Akaashi put a hand on the owl-haired teens shoulder. “Kenma will be ok. Kuroo’s with him and from what I know Kuroo’s helped him before and Kenma has experience with this, so he’ll be fine.” Akaashi’s face then became serious. “But _whatever_ you do, don’t mention Aone or the cliff. One or the other was probably the trigger, although nearly dying probably also would’ve done it.”

“Yeah, and we should try give him some space.” Oikawa added.

Everyone looked at each other solemnly and nodded.

~*~

Kuroo took Kenma’s hand as they walked through the passage after having spent about 15 more minutes in comfortable silence as Kenma calmed down.

“Are you sure you are ok with the cliff?” Kuroo asked again, hesitant.

Kenma sighed lightly but gave him a tiny smile. “Yeah. It was less the cliff and more the… rest… that triggered me.”

Kuroo gave his hand a tiny squeeze. “Ok.”

As the pair emerged from the crack in the rocks they saw the rest of the group standing or sitting around in a circle, talking quietly.

“Hey everyone” Kenma said softly.

The whole group turned to face them with wide eyes.

“Kenma!” Bokuto exclaimed, voice starting off loud but instantly becoming quiet, much to Kuroo’s gratitude.

The blonde in question gave a small smile before looking to the cliff. “Where’s Aone?” he asked in confusion and Kuroo’s heart constricted at the small amount of fear in his boyfriends voice.

Akaashi, the saint that he is, stood up and gave the purest, most innocent smile Kuroo had ever seen.

“He slipped.”

Kuroo nearly choked at the passive way Akaashi delivered the sentence. The raven-haired teen’s guiltless expression didn’t crack for a second.

The teen only gave him another gleaming smile before giving a smaller, more genuine one to Kenma.

Slowly, after a few quiet words were shared between everyone, they began to walk back to their stuff and Tendou (who, Kuroo realised, would have no idea what was happening, though Ushijima would probably fill him in).

The sky was murky and grey, Kuroo was willing to bet that there would be a storm tonight. Miserable weather aside, there was a tiny glimmer of happiness in him.

It hadn’t escape Kuroo’s notice that everyone walked in such a way that Kenma (and by extension, him) were in the middle, surrounding on all sides by everyone else as a sort of protective shield. Kuroo could also see Kenma noticed this and the tiny smile on his face.

Kuroo squeezed Kenma’s hand.

“I’m ok now Kuroo” The blonde said softly, looking up at him. “Not 100%, but I’m doing okay.”

Kuroo raised his free hand up, as if in surrender. “I just worry.”

Kenma smiled and leaned into his side. “I know”

~*~

Kuroo tried to ignore the chatter of his friends as he curled further around the already-asleep Kenma who had collapsed as soon as they got back. The storm outside was fierce but right now he just wanted to sleep. 

Now that everything was over though, and they were safe(ish) it was starting to sink in. His boyfriend had nearly died today.  Again.  Kenma hadn’t died of course, but Kuroo was coming to the realization that people would always be hunting them. Now, and if their plan to leave the games worked. He had to accept that Kenma was going to be in danger, and that all he could do was try save him from it. 

Because for as long as he lived he was going to help keep Kenma alive. 

Kuroo took a deep breath as he looped his arm around Kenna’s waist and pulled him closer burying his face in the teens hair and closing his eyes to rest. 

A harsh sound rang in his ears, echoing over the arena. 

Kuroo jolted at the sound and pulled Kenma closer and held him tighter, eyes flying open and watching the surrounding area as he listened to Kenma’s steadily beating heart, irrationally worried. 

“Was that... was that a cannon?” Suga asked quietly, soft voice cutting through the thick silence suddenly swallowing the room, causing Kuroo to open his eyes and look at him. 

“Yes.” Iwaizumi said with a small frown. “Yes it was” 

“They must have died in the storm.” Daichi said softly, taking Suga’s hand as lightning flashed outside the cave in warning, almost as if on cue. 

“But how many people have died so far?” Tendou asked cautiously as a horrible idea seemed to dawn on them all. 

There was a silent moment to process in which Kuroo sat up and shifted to see the group that were all seated on their sleeping bags throughout the cave all in a sort of circle that Kuroo was on the edge of. Some had their sleeping friends or partners next to them (Iwaizumi had Oikawa who was curled against him and clinging to him even as the dark-haired teen talked to the others. Tendou was once again leaning against Ushijima, who was asleep with his head rested on Tendou’s and his arm around the redhead.) while Suga and Daichi sat near the mouth of the cave, keeping watch first. 

“If my memory is correct and my math isn’t off...” Akaashi said slowly. “Then there are only 10 tributes left.” 

Bokuto’s eyes widened, “so that means...” 

“We are the only ones left.” Kuroo finished. 

There was a beat of tense silence that Kuroo took to process. 10. The ten being all of them. They were expected to all kill each other, leaving one on top. 

Iwaizumi especially had a strange look on his face but Kuroo was way too tired to care. 

“Come on,” He said, lying back down and closing his eyes, trying to block out the thought. “We should get some sleep” 

There were light mutters of “yeah” and “goodnight” throughout the room as they each came to the conclusion that either Kenma’s plan for them to all leave would work, or 9 of them would die. 

“Night Kuro” came a tired mumble from the barely awake Kenma who must have stirred during their conversation. 

Kuroo closed his eyes. 

“Night Kitten.” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So... hope you liked it?  
> If you did, please leave comments and kudos. They really do make my day and inspire me to continue this fic.
> 
> Now, I've got a few things to say.
> 
> First, about the end to this chapter.
> 
> The last tribute not in their group being killed off by a storm? Seems a bit lame and underwhelming.  
> Yeah, I know. This is for 2 reasons, the first being that I wanted to remind everyone that our main group isn't the 'center' of the universe. Other people are living their lives and finding their deaths. The second being that I'm tired and didn't feel like writing another fight scene because I hate them and can't write action to save my kneecaps.
> 
> Second, about my updating schedule.
> 
> Um yeah so the schedule is out the window. I really don't know when I'll be able to update next, let alone finish chapter 30.  
> I've kind of become stuck in the sense that Haikyuu doesn't interest me as much as it used to and I'm falling into other fandoms. This is not to say that I am going to discontinue this fic or abandon it. I will finish this damn thing if it kills me and I have to drag it from my soul like pulling teeth.
> 
> That being said however, I do kind of want to preserve my mental health (shocking I know). So while I fully plan to continue this fic and it WILL be finished I don't actually know when that'll be. I'm going to sort out my life and rewatch Haikyuu and watch part 2 of S4 in an attempt to get back into the fandom. 
> 
> I can't ask for anything more than you guys bearing with me while I do that. So please, stick around and keep track of this fic even if it's a long time between updates. 
> 
> I love you all very much, thanks for all the support, it means a lot.  
> Now, I hope everyone has a wonderfully fabulous day/night and I'll see you all next time!


	29. The sunset is beautiful, sure, but it's always followed by a darker night

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> ;)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Heyyyy 
> 
> So  
> I'm back again?
> 
> This isn't exactly 'the end' of my hiatus, but I wanted to give y'all something. Chapter 30 is almost done and I want to post it about a month from now. If everything goes to plan it'll be a Christmas miracle and will be out 25th December.
> 
> I'm working on like... 2 other projects which is kind of dumb on my part but I am getting back into the swing of things for Catalyst. I'm not promising regular updates after Christmas but I think we're getting there.
> 
> I don't really know what else to say except a huge thank you to everyone who still cares about this fic. You've stuck with me through all my random mess and inconsistent updating and I am so incredibly grateful.
> 
> Now, all that being said,
> 
> Enjoy!

A light tapping on his shoulder woke Akaashi.

He immediately sat up, sliding the knife from under his pillow (where his hand had been resting under his head moments ago) and holding it to the throat of-

Oh. It was Bokuto.

The owl-haired teen looked a teeny bit startled and quite guilty, “Sorry… I… uh… should have tried to wake you up a different way.”

Akaashi hated seeing that sad, almost pouting look on the teens face and said softly, “It’s alright,” before remembering why he was in that situation in the first place, “Why _did_ you wake me up?”

Bokuto’s face lit up immediately as he shifted to get up and whispered excitedly, “follow me.”

He hesitantly pulled back part of his sleeping back and pushed himself up to follow the teen. They came to the entrance of the cave and Akaashi figured they would stop or do _something_ but instead Bokuto merely walked out into the snow.

Akaashi took a brief moment to wonder how far he was actually willing to follow the other teen because _damn it Bokuto, it’s really cold_ but came to the same conclusion he always did. He’d follow Bokuto anywhere.

He winced as he exited the relative warmth of their cave and began walking along the cold mountain. “Why the hell are you even up?” Akaashi asked.

“I was on watch.” Bokuto explained. “Then I saw it.”

Akaashi suppressed a frustrated groan. “Saw what?”

“Hurry!” the owl-haired teen exclaimed, dodging the question.

Snow made it hard to move among the terrain and Akaashi hissed a curse as he saw Bokuto several meters ahead of him walking with relative ease even in the darkness.

Bokuto must have heard him because he walked back to Akaashi with a tiny smile. “Come on Akaashi!” He said, taking the raven-haired teens hand and began leading him through the snow.

Akaashi could feel the warmth of Bokuto’s hand and held it a bit tighter causing Bokuto to startle. The owl-haired teen turned to him with a goofy smile before continuing walking.

He could feel a light blush on his cheeks, and he was pretty sure it wasn’t because of the cold.

They walked in silence for a few minutes while Akaashi once again contemplated where they could be going.

“Hey Bokuto, where are we going? It’s freezing and we- “ Akaashi stopped as he looked up from his feet and saw the scene in front of them.

It was the cliff from earlier. But now it didn’t look so deadly. It was all coated in a thin layer of snow, glittering in the light. Speaking of the light, the sun was rising over the cliff, far over on the other side of the arena. The cliff was high enough that you could see all the way to the horizon, over the various biomes. The dark sky was fading into light hues as golden light shone over the area. The limited light didn’t quite reach the cliff, not yet. There was just glittering snow on the ground and every so often a small snowflake floating daintily to the ground.

“I was on watch” Bokuto explained, “And I… wanted to make sure that Aone hadn’t survived and come back up the cliff or something. It’s stupid but then I saw this…” The owl-haired teen trailed off.

“It’s beautiful” Akaashi breathed, feeling hesitant to destroy the serene silence.

Bokuto must have agreed because he mumbled something, nearly inaudible. “S’ not the most beautiful thing out here.”

Akaashi felt shock run through him, did he hear that correctly?

“Say that again.” He whispered, coming up behind the other teen.

Bokuto turned to face him, eyes startled “I- uh…” he fumbled for a moment before seemingly giving up and muttering. “The sunrise isn’t the most beautiful thing…”

Akaashi felt his heart beating way to fast in his chest as he leaned a bit closer, testing the waters. “What is the most beautiful thing then?”

He was almost afraid for the answer Bokuto would give. Akaashi knew how he felt about Bokuto but… he had no idea what the other thought of him.

The way the owl-haired teen seemed to trip over his words, cheeks inflamed a deep red made Akaashi’s heart swell painfully as hope and fear filled him.

“Y-you” Bokuto finally said, face flushing further.

The raven-haired teen took in his words for a moment, holding his breath. Akaashi looked into Bokuto’s eyes, watching him with heart-breaking curiosity and nervousness, but… also hope.

Akaashi could feel his heart in his throat and blood pounding in his ears as he gently leaned forward.

And kissed Bokuto.

~*~

Kenma groaned as he opened his eyes, not quite willing to face another day.

He immediately noticed the lack of warmth around him and squinted while looking for Kuroo. Kenma sat up and noticed a silhouette outside the cave, and since they were the only ones lef- since it could only be one of their team, it was likely Kuroo. The only other people that weren’t in the cave being Bokuto, Akaashi and Iwaizumi,

Kenma got to his feet and reluctantly left the already limited warmth of the cave. Outside the cave they had found last night was a small empty area and someone was now setting up a fire. The blonde walked towards them and noticed that it indeed was Kuroo. The dark-haired teen was tending to the small flame, keeping it alight.

“Hey Kuro” he said, sitting down next to the teen on a rock near the fire.

“Oh!” Kuroo said, looking at him, apparently not having heard him coming. “Morning Kenma.”

Kenma smiled at the dark-haired teen before looking around, noticing Iwaizumi sitting alone on a higher ledge that gave him a clear view of the landscape. The tribute had a troubled look on his face and Kenma frowned before remembering,

“Have you seen Akaashi and Bokuto? They aren’t in the cave and don’t seem to be out here,” He asked, slightly worried.

“No…” Kuroo said, frowning, “They were gone when I woke up.”

He looked down at his feet, smile dropping, “I wonder where they are…”

They wouldn’t be captured by any other tributes because well… there weren’t any left. Kenma was still kind of processing that fact. He still remembers the shock that had run through his system despite being half asleep.

“Hold on. Look!” Kuroo said, drawing his attention up.

Kenma squinted and saw Akaashi and Bokuto approaching in the distance over part of the mountain and…

“Wait…” Kuroo said slowly.

Kenma was just as confused, not trusting his eyes, “Are they…?”

“I think so.”

“Wow. I’m not surprised but wow,” Kenma said, a tiny smile creeping onto his face.

Akaashi and Bokuto were now in earshot. They were walking close together and holding hands.

Kuroo and Kenma shared a happy glance before both standing up and meeting their friends halfway.

“So…” Kuroo said, wiggling an eyebrow while looking at their joint hands.

Akaashi had a light pink flush on his cheeks while Bokuto’s whole face went red.

“Yeah,” The raven-haired teen said with a tiny smile before kissing Bokuto’s cheek.

This, tragically, didn’t help Bokuto’s embarrassed state as the owl-haired teen began spluttering and falling over his words. 

“Akaashi! Uh- “ the blushing teen said before running his free hand down his face, to which Kenma smirked.

Kuroo then dramatically pulled Kenma to him and rested his chin on Kenma’s head while hugging him.

“Kenmaaa~” The dark-haired teen dragged out the ‘a’ to annoy him, “They’re almost cuter than us!”

The blonde was going to give a dry remark but that would probably make his boyfriend more annoying, so he sighed and resigned himself to saying, “Almost Kuro, but not quite,” Though he couldn’t help the tiny smile that came afterwards.

This caused Kuroo to beam and hug him tighter while removing his head from on top of Kenma’s to kiss his cheek. Bokuto however, took this as a challenge.

“What! No, me and Akaashi are definitely cuter!” the owl-haired teen jumped to defend his and Akaashi’s honour.

Kuroo in turn began to argue this with him, “Do you have pet names for each other? Me and Kenma have pet names.”

“Kenma just calls you your name minus a syllable! That’s hardly a nickname. Either way, I call Akaashi ‘Kaashi” Bokuto disagreed.

The dark-haired teen frowned before lighting up. “Yeah ok maybe ‘Kuro’ doesn’t count but Akaashi doesn’t have a name for you either! He has one for me!”

Bokuto gasped in betrayal. “Really?! What nickname? Why don’t I have a nickname?!”

Akaashi, next to Kenma, gave a long sigh as Kuroo proudly said, “Pain-in-the-ass-Kuroo!”

“That’s not something to be proud of Kuro.” Kenma said wryly.

Kuroo gave him a scandalized look. “What!? Kenma you’re supposed to be on our side!”

“No.” Kenma said, raising his hands in surrender, “I’m not getting involved.” He didn’t have the energy to deal with right now. Or ever really.

Akaashi nodded, “I’m not joining in either.”

Their respective boyfriends gave them playful glares before continuing their discussion while Kenma and Akaashi watched their madness.

Kenma glanced over at Akaashi, who had a soft smile on his face watching Bokuto. 

“Hey.” He said, nudging the raven-haired tribute, “Congrats. I’m happy for you.”

Akaashi looked at him, surprised. It quickly warmed though into a happy smile. “Thanks Kenma.”

The pair stood in companionable silence, just watching their grinning partners argue.

“Hey” A new voice joined in. “What are you guys doing this early?”

Kenma turned to see Daichi walking towards them from the cave. The teen’s hair was unruly, and he looked like he had just woken up.

The four of them all didn’t say anything for a moment, wondering what they were actually doing. Kenma sighed, honestly he didn’t know what was going at this point.

“Oh!” Kuroo said, remembering something. “I was going to go hunting for a bit but then we started talking.”

Kenma looked at his boyfriend, surprised. Maybe that’s why Kuroo was starting a fire earlier?

Bokuto lit up with an idea. “Wait bro! We should totally all hunt!”

Kuroo looked at the teen. “Bro… You mean like, all four of us?” 

“Yeah bro! Wouldn’t it be awesome?” Bokuto said enthusiastically.

The dark-haired teen mulled it over. “Ya know what bro, you are totally right!”

A wide smile bloomed on Bokuto’s face before he turned to Akaashi and Kenma. “You two in?”

Akaashi looked at Kenma, as if asking if he was up for it. 

The blonde in question gave a long-suffering sigh before shrugging. “I guess.”

Kuroo gave him a beaming smile while Akaashi nodded to Bokuto.

“Ok!” Kuroo said with a clap before turning to Daichi. “So we’ll be going to hunt for a bit.”

Daichi, by the exhausted look on his face, didn’t care much. “Sure. Just be back before midday.”

Bokuto then took Akaashi’s hand and dragged him away, running like a gleeful toddler. Kuroo slid his hand into Kenma’s before they set of behind the other couple at a more reasonable pace.

Kenma, despite his sarcastic nature, enjoyed hanging out with his friends like they did during training. Just the four of them having fun.

This enjoyment prompted Kenma to do something he normally wouldn’t. 

“Hey!” He called, “Wait up!”

~*~

“WHY ISN’T KOZUME DEAD!” Washijo’s furious voice boomed threateningly throughout the game control centre as Irihata flinched.

“w-well Sir- “ a silver-haired game designer tried. “He nearly died?”

The short, angry president stopped his raging to zero in on the designer. “Who are you?”

“Haiba Lev Sir.” The designer said, trying not to stutter.

Washijo glared at him in barely contained fury, opening his mouth to speak before another designer spoke up.

“Sir, if I may. We’ve created… dogs, if you will, that will target the tributes and can survive the mountain climate. They’re almost- they _are_ unstoppable.”

The president turned away from Lev to the other game-maker. “Good. What is your name?”

The short designer with light brown hair seemed vaguely uncomfortable under Washijo’s gaze and quickly said “Yaku Morisuke.”

Washijo gave Yaku a cold smile before glaring at Lev. “You.” Then he gazed around the room, glare resting on the head game-maker. “ _All_ of you. Learn from Yaku’s example.”

A hesitant beat of silence and then… “Yes President Washijo.” Came the required response.

“Now.” President Washijo smiled emotionlessly.

“Release the dogs.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So... did you like it?
> 
> Romance isn't really my forte (I'm an aromantic for goodness sake. It really was such a bad idea to make a fic with so many ships but oh well I guess) so I hope it didn't feel unnatural and forced.
> 
> If you did enjoy, please leave comments and kudos, they really do make my day and inspire me so much.
> 
> Thanks again to anyone who's stuck around this long and has put up with me.  
> I love you all so much and I hope you guys have a wonderful day/night.
> 
> I'll see you all (hopefully) in a month for the longest chapter yet, bye! <3


	30. Not a chapter! (but there kind of is one)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Quick update!

Hey everyone!

So, as you can see, this is not a chapter.

Unfortunately leading up to Christmas and just all of the past month I haven't had much time to write and in a couple of days I will be away from my laptop for just over a week so I won't be able to write any more for a little bit.

Having said that, there is a new chapter for the little 'side stories' of Catalyst (that you can find by going to the second work in this series). The second chapter lines up with how chapter 29 ended and was initially going to be part of the main story. I cut it out because of the pacing but I feel like you guys might like it anyway.

I seriously cannot thank all of you enough for the support and I can't wait to give you all chapter 30 because it is by far the longest chapter (currently 11k words) and I think you'll like it.

Hope you all are having a very merry Christmas and if you don't celebrate it, I hope you all have wonderful days/nights regardless.

Thank you all again <3<3

also this will be deleted in a day or two 

**Author's Note:**

> Hope you liked it!
> 
> I'll post again next week, probably at a similar time


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